For the second time in three months, sales tax revenues to the Barry County area in May dropped compared to a year ago, a pattern repeated from the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic surge in local sales drove revenues to unprecedented heights.
The seven Barry County cities collecting sales tax took in $666,861.95, a drop of 22 percent as every city except Wheaton and Washburn saw receipts tumble from a year ago.
Cassville’s 1 percent tax supporting its general fund generated $93,934.40, a drop of $10,064.26, or 10 percent, from a year ago. It was still the second highest May total on record, keeping the year’s total more than $144,000 ahead of last year. Seligman saw its 1 percent tax drop marginally, bringing in $13,229.43, dipping $487.37 from a year ago. That put Seligman’s 2022 sum down about $900 from last year’s pace.
Wheaton’s 1 percent general fund tax received $9,983.27, up $987.44 from a year ago for an alltime May record, triple the sum received in 2015. Wheaton’s general fund is more than $12,000 ahead of 2021 at this point, whereas the city’s .5 percent tax, receiving about a third of what the 1 percent tax yields, is up nearly $4,300.
Washburn also hit a May record for its 1 percent tax, receiving $3,973.61, up $1,559.80, or 35 percent, from a year ago. The sum is more than quadruple what Washburn’s tax took in five years ago, likely reflecting sales from the town’s new Dollar General store. Washburn’s general fund is up nearly $6,000 from last May.
Exeter’s 1 percent tax topped $3,000 for the first time this year, a plateau hit four times last year. The $3,045.65 received, down $503.93 from a year ago, boosted the 2022 sum ahead of last year by nearly $1,700.
Purdy’s 1 percent sales tax for paying its general bills produced $4,352.87, a drop of $3,111.16 from last May’s all-time record for the month, a dip of over 37 percent. It was the lowest May total since 2014. Purdy’s 11-month fiscal year general fund total reached $62,555.38, more than $3,000 ahead of last year but still below the 2019 and 2020 sums by May. Purdy’s 2022 general fund sum of $27,514.10 inched ahead of last year’s pace by more than $1,200, though still behind 2019 and 2020.
Monett’s two sales taxes for its general fund collected at 1 percent generated $171.446.20, down $27,221.26, or 14 percent, from a year ago, but nonetheless the second highest May total on record. It was the third drop in four months after seven consecutive increases. Offset by the April disbursement, Monett’s twomonth fiscal year tally reached $376,319.36, up more than $25,500 from a year ago. For 2022, the general fund has collected $889,487.98, still ahead of last year’s pace by more than $14,000.
Barry County’s two .5 percent sales taxes for general bills and road maintenance each took in $207,767 for the month, down more than $28,392, or 12 percent, from last May. It was the first monthly drop this year, leaving the 2022 sum for each up more than $145,500 from a year ago.
Barry County’s sales tax that funds 911 and central dispatching at a rate of .375 percent yielded $156,816.80 in May, down $20,206.38, or 19 percent, from a year ago. That put the 2022 sum ahead of last year’s pace by $64,000.
SALES TAX IN MAY
General trend: Big drop from May 2021
Monett: Collections down 14 percent
For 2022: Most cities still ahead, Seligman down
