Hot Springs budget gets October sales-tax boost

HOT SPRINGS - After October sales tax collections were up 6.3 percent compared with 2012, the city is almost 2 percent ahead of projections for the year, Hot Springs Finance Director Dorethea Yates said.

“We had budgeted about a 1 percent increase for the year, so that is real positive news for us,” Yates said. Year to date, collections are 2.9 percent ahead of 2012.

Yates said she didn’t really have a “whole lot of explanation” for why the city had its third-best month of the year. June collections were 7.24 percent ahead of 2012, while July posted a 6.93 percent increase compared with the same time in 2012.

“The only thing I can think of is that we do have some construction going on in town - Oaklawn, Fairgrounds Crossing, and Popeye’s - and the weather was pretty nice in October. Other than that, I don’t have a logical explanation,” she said.

Through October, the city’s total sales tax collection for the general fund is $9,843,673 compared with $9,566,016 for the same period in 2012. Year-to date collections for the police and fire fund are $4,921,836 compared with $4,783,008 for the same period last year.

City Manager David Watkins said the tax collection figures lag about two months behind the budget year, but he feels that the city will end up about 3 percent ahead for the year. December tax collections won’t be received from the state until near the end of February.

“I don’t have any reason to believe it won’t, even though I think the Christmas shopping season has been impacted by the late Thanksgiving holiday and bad weather, so that might come into play. You hear about that nationally, and I’m sure it’s having an impact locally, according to the retailers I’ve talked to,” he said.

“But, I think we’re going to end up doing much better than predicted,” Watkins said, noting that the city’s 2014 budget predicts only a 1.75 percent sales tax collection increase.

Steve Arrison, chief executive officer of Visit Hot Springs, said October collections for the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission were 4.5 percent higher than for the same period in 2012, giving the commission a 3.41 percent increase year-to-date.

While one specific event could not be pointed to as the reason for sales tax collection increases, Arrison said, “I think there are a lot of things going on in Hot Springs.”

“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, and all the pieces are fitting together. We’re starting to see some gains every month and in the traditionally slower months.”

Arrison said he thinks the overall collections reflect the importance of special events to the community.

“There is always something going on. There were lots going on in October, including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Hot Water Hills Festival, Senior Olympics, Hot Springs Arts and Crafts Show, and Magic Screams, just to name a few,” he said.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/26/2013

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