BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Stoddard County Sales tax receipts remained flat so far in 2017 with only an additional $4,106.46 collected compared to the same period in 2016. County sales tax revenue was 162,371.41 in October 2017, which is $5,674.22 less than in October 2016.
Sales tax revenue to the county so far in 2017 has generated $2,578,964.99 compared to $2,574,858.53 for the same period in 2016.
County Clerk Joe Watson said the budgeted amount for October receipts was $233,958.33, so the actual amount was $71,586.93 off budget projections. Watson said the Stoddard County Commission is conservative in projecting revenue from the sales tax. The sales tax revenue budget through October was $2,573,541.63, which means actual revenue in 2017 is $5,423.36 ahead of projections.
September 2017 sales tax receipts were nearly $7,000 ahead of September 2016. For the year, sales tax receipts have typically been slightly up one month, and then down the next. Regardless, sales tax receipts have been flat for the last three years.
Stoddard County has a one cent sales tax. Voters approved the first half-cent sales tax in the 1990s, with the revenue going into the general revenue account. A few years later, the county proposed doing away with the county portion of real and personal property taxes if voters approved a second half-cent tax. It was approved by voters, and the sales tax provides the bulk of the revenue for county operations.