With three months remaining in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the city needs to get nearly $611,000 to match last year's sales tax revenue.
The March distribution of sales tax checks from the state gave Henryetta $209,480.04 this year. That was a drop of $3,454 from last year. It was also the second month in a row that the sales tax return has been lower than the previous year.
Making up some of that loss was the increase in the use tax. This month, the city received $23,678 compared with $9,665 last year. That money comes from taxes remitted to the state on out-of-state purchases.
That issue has prompted state lawmakers this year to collect sales tax on transactions between a buyer from Oklahoma and out-of-state online retail sites.
Bill author Rep. Chad Caldwell pointed out Oklahoma retailers complain that Internet companies that don’t collect sales taxes have an unfair business advantage. Businesses with a physical presence in the state must collect and remit sales tax while out-of-state retailers do not.
“This bill levels the playing field for Oklahoma businesses that employ Oklahomans,” he said.
He estimated only four percent of taxpayers remit that tax each year. The bill is now before the Senate.
The March distribution showed a slight increase for Okmulgee County: $278,504 this year compared with $274,529 a year ago.
Statewide, $125,119,166 in sales tax collections was returned to 514 cities and towns reflecting a decrease of $5,082,553 from the $130,201,719 distributed to 514 cities and towns in March last year.