By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Hosting a large regional track and field competition may have boosted Yukon’s sales tax revenues, a state Tax Commission monthly report indicates.
The City of Yukon on Aug. 9 received a $2,520,566 distribution of sales tax collections from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, which primarily represents local tax receipts from June business.
That amount is 6.3% more than the $2,371,866 distribution in August 2022.
Yukon city and chamber of commerce leaders believe having the Amateur Athletic Union’s Regional 16 Track & Field Championships on June 22-25 at Yukon High School’s Miller Stadium helped boost sales tax coffers.
Thousands of visitors from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri shopped in Yukon-area stores during the four-day track and field meet.
“This is a great example of how tourism works to benefit our entire city,” Yukon Mayor Shelli Selby said. “We look forward to bringing more groups to our city and increasing our tax base so we can move forward on working on our infrastructure.
“Let’s keep shopping local – north of 10th Street.”
N.W. 10th is the south border of Yukon city limits. All sales south of 10th Street raise tax revenue for the City of Oklahoma City.
On the north side of 10th Street along Garth Brooks Boulevard, City of Yukon officials greatly anticipate further sales tax revenue growth with the opening of new businesses like the Mardel Christian & Education store, HTeaO, Crumbl Cookies, and 7Brew.
Through the first two months of fiscal year 2023-24, Yukon’s sales tax collections are up 4.6% over the first two months of FY22-23 – increasing from $4,759,168 to $4,977,624.
Sales tax is the primary revenue source for Oklahoma’s municipalities, funding local government operations.
For August, the City of Oklahoma City received $3,288,751 in sales tax revenues within Canadian County – a 20.6% increase over August ’22. That follows a 11.6% year-over-year jump in July.
The City of Yukon has a 4% local tax rate.
The City of Oklahoma City has a 4.125% local tax rate.
FIVE UP, FOUR DOWN
Across Oklahoma, the Aug. 9th disbursement of $204,828,404 in sales tax collections returned to the cities and towns reflected an increase of $7,049,394 from the $197,779,010 distributed to them in August 2022.
Yukon and Oklahoma City are among nine municipalities inside Canadian County that receive sales tax distributions monthly from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Five municipalities saw increases this August compared to August ‘22:
- Calumet – 34.5%
- El Reno – 40.2%
- Oklahoma City – 20.6%
- Union City – 56.2%
- Yukon – 6.3%
The other four municipalities had decreases in the year-over-year comparison.
- Geary – 7.4%
- Mustang – 0.2%
- Okarche – 22%
- Piedmont – 0.2%
Meanwhile, the August use tax disbursement to cities and towns across Oklahoma totaled $34,215,059.
The City of Yukon saw a 2.3% increase in use tax revenues – from $335,755 in August ’22 to $343,570 this month.
A use tax is a tax on goods or services that generally would be subject to sales tax, but the sales tax was not collected or was under-collected. Use taxes often apply to online or out-of-state purchases.
COUNTY RETURNS
In county returns for August, Oklahoma’s 77 counties shared in a $34,173,441 sales tax disbursement and a $6,611,536 use tax disbursement.
Canadian County experienced a 7.2% increase in sales tax collections between August 2022 ($827,935) and this August ($887,489).
Year-to-date in FY23-24, Canadian County’s cumulative sales revenues are up 5% over the same period in FY22-23.
Canadian County’s .035% countywide sales tax is earmarked to fund operations at the Gary E. Miller Children’s Justice Center.
Canadian County’s use tax distribution was $181,756 for August, a 46.1% decrease from August ’22.
