February sales tax collections show improvement in UC
CBJ Admin
Wednesday, Apr 4, 2012
UPPER CUMBERLAND – February seemed to favor the Upper Cumberland region in terms of state sales tax collections, as 11 of the area’s 14 counties saw improvement, according to the most recent figures released by the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
The UC marked a 7.9-percent increase over February 2011’s total of $14.4 million. Of those counties reporting losses, two were large swings of 25 percent or more, including Pickett (-25.0) and Smith (-34.3). Jackson County, with $132,935 in collections, tallied an 8.1 percent loss for the month.
In Cannon, Cumberland, Overton, Putnam, Van Buren, Warren and White counties, increases were in the double digits. Van Buren saw an increase of 43.4 percent in February, with $83,758 in collections, but that county is still running at a negative 1.7 percent as far as annual figures are concerned. Other counties reporting gains were Clay (6.7), Fentress (3.3), DeKalb (0.1) and Macon (6.1). Quarterly and annually, Overton County is outpacing its counterparts with 17.3 percent and 9.7 percent increases, respectively. It collected $682,529 in February, a 24.7 percent gain. Putnam, which typically tops the region in total collections, raked in more than $5.8 million in February, which was an 11.6 percent increase and better than the state of Tennessee rate of 10.2 percent.
Conversely, only three counties, DeKalb, Jackson and Pickett, are running at quarterly losses, with marks at -2.7, -6.3 and -3.4, respectively. Annual increases in other counties for the year ranged from 3.8 percent (Cumberland) to virtually no gain at 1.0 percent (Cannon).
The collections are based on state sales taxes; local option taxes are excluded. Sales data lags by one month; for example, February numbers reflect January activity.
|
Counties
|
February
|
Year prior
|
Percent change
|
|
Cannon
|
$253,621
|
$222,622
|
13.9
|
|
Clay
|
$166,939
|
$156,402
|
6.7
|
|
Cumberland
|
$2,900,093
|
$2,632,943
|
10.1
|
|
DeKalb
|
$663,249
|
$662,435
|
0.1
|
|
Fentress
|
$552,936
|
$535,095
|
3.3
|
|
Jackson
|
$132,935
|
$144,648
|
-8.1
|
|
Macon
|
$735,794
|
$693,526
|
6.1
|
|
Overton
|
$682,529
|
$547,455
|
24.7
|
|
Pickett
|
$116,425
|
$155,192
|
-25.0
|
|
Putnam
|
$5,856,867
|
$5,246,354
|
11.6
|
|
Smith
|
$623,229
|
$949,127
|
-34.3
|
|
Van Buren
|
$83,758
|
$58,391
|
43.4
|
|
Warren
|
$1,785,442
|
$1,551,709
|
15.1
|
|
White
|
$990,276
|
$843,822
|
17.4
|
|
UCDD
|
$15,544,093
|
$14,399,721
|
10.2
|
Source: Compiled by the Upper Cumberland Development District from data published by the Tennessee Department of Revenue.