The City of Tulsa's March sales tax check, which covers the period from mid-January to mid-February, as reported by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, totaled $17,661,721 showing a 5.9 percent decrease from the same period one year ago. This total is 6.9 percent below budget estimates.
Sales tax collections for the fiscal year are flat. The sales tax total since July 2015 is $178.1 million compared with $178 million for the same period last year, showing a slight increase of 0.1 percent.
"Overreliance on sales tax proves time and again to be an outdated and insufficient model for cities to operate," Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett Jr. said. "As we face a challenging budget situation with declining sales and use taxes, the City of Tulsa will continue to make sound budgetary decisions to help recover the loss from our decrease in revenues."
Use taxes for March totaled $1,697,096 which is down 9.7 percent from the same period a year ago, and 15 percent below budget estimates.
Use tax collections for the fiscal year are lower than one year ago. The use tax total since July 2015 is $17,740,012 compared with $18,269,770 for the same period last year, showing a 2.9 percent decrease.
Sales tax and use tax collections provide two-thirds of the City of Tulsa's general fund. Vital services such as police and fire protection, 911 emergency dispatch, snow and ice removal from streets, pothole repair and mowing of grass in medians and parks are supported by sales and use taxes.
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