The most recent sales tax check received by the City of Yukon is in, and the amount is not as low as feared.
The sales tax check comes in at $1,802,711.99.
Due to the pandemic, city leaders feared a decline of up to 15% to 20% in sales tax revenues. However, the check to the city from the Oklahoma Tax Commission for the most recent reporting period is 11.76% below what it was at this time last year, manager Jim Crosby said, and that is not as bad as expected.
The most recent reporting period is for April and May.
And use tax for internet sales went up for the period. With more people at home due to COVID-19, the use tax is up 10.47% compared to the same time last year.
In June, 2019, the sales tax check was $2,042,901.80. In June, 2019, use tax for Yukon was $186,549.91.
The use tax check received in June, 2020 is $206,077.33.
“When you compare us to the Oklahoma City area we are in better shape,” Crosby said.
In May, City of Yukon leaders reported sales tax collections for March business – when stores started closing due to a global pandemic – dropped 10.9% from the same period last year.
The City of Yukon received a $1,765,912 distribution for May from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. That’s $216,614 lower than Yukon’s $1,982,526 distribution in May 2019.
The May distribution of sales tax collections by the state tax commission primarily represents local tax receipts from March business. Retail businesses in Yukon and across Oklahoma started closing in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May, Mayor Shelli Selby said, “Eleven percent is not good, but it’s better than what we were thinking. “It could have been worse.”
City officials had expected a 15% to 20% drop in sales tax receipts due to mandated business closures that started in mid-March.
For a full report on the most recent sales tax revenue issues read The Yukon Progress and visit http://www.yukonprogress.com.
