By Rupert Howell

The City of Batesville’s sales tax was up six percent for sales collected during the month of June compared with June of 2009 with the municipality receiving $321,118 as its share of the seven percent sales tax. The figure also represented a six percent increase over the amount collected the previous month.

Municipalities receive approximately 18 percent of the seven cent sales tax collected within their borders with the remainder used to fund state government.

The six percent increase compared favorably to the statewide two percent increase during the same time period.

The most recent figure for the city’s three percent Tourism and  Economic Development Tax placed on restaurants and hotels increased five percent over the previous July to $81,615.

That amount was collected in July, the month following  the most recent sales tax figures. That figure also reflected a three percent decrease in the amount collected during the month of June.

Other Panola municipalities received the following diversion from the state as their share of sales tax collected in June and paid in August and followed by percentage of increase or decrease from June 2009 as follows: Como, $14,554, -11; Courtland, $1,337, +66; Crenshaw, $5,226, +25; Crowder, $1,485, -7; Pope, $2,314, +39 and Sardis, $27,253, unchanged.

Other nearby municipalities received the following as their share of sales tax collected: Charleston, $29,021, -32; Clarksdale, $246,795, +8; Grenada, $319,197, unchanged; Lambert, $3,277, +12; Marks, $20,521, -4; Oakland, $6,836, +87; Oxford, $474,402, +8; Senatobia, $149,458, +4; and Water Valley, $40,691, +3.