By Rupert Howell

Latest sales tax figures released by the Mississippi State Tax Commission indicate stagnant sales during March 2010 compared to March 2009 as the City of Batesville received $337,070 as its share of the seven percent sales tax compared to $337,352 last year.

The amount of collections did increase from the previous month by nine percent and year-to-date figures, the state’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, are five percent ahead of the last year’s figures with Batesville receiving $3,086,808 thus far.

The city receives approximately 18 percent of the seven percent sales tax which is disbursed back to the municipality from which it originated approximately two months after it is paid.

A local three percent tax on restaurants and hotels, the Batesville Economic Development Tax, is paid the month after it is collected. For April, the city received $80,844, a 13 percent decrease from last April’s collection. For the fiscal year, that figure has increased approximately three percent with the City collecting $816,437 thus far.

A Sardis tax on food and lodging raised $10,928, a 26 percent increase over the previous year. A similar tax in Como raised $3,804 in April and is in its first year.

Other Panola County municipalities received disbursements from the State Tax Commission as their share of sales tax collected and the percentage of increase and decrease as follows: Como, $14,897, -14; Courtland, $1,113, -22; Crenshaw, $6,596, 90; Crowder, $1,645, -9, Pope, $3,687, 60 and Sardis, $29,433, 1.

Nearby by municipalities received the following disbursements with percentage of increase and decrease as: Charleston, $28,247, -6; Clarksdale, $247.334, 1; Grenada, $344,788, 4; Lambert, $2,657, -19; Marks, $19,640, -8; Oakland, $5,961, -4; Oxford, $512,772, 5; Senatobia, $155,469, -3; Sledge, $1,509, 11; Taylor, $2,038, -5 and Water Valley, $37,623, -11.

Statewide collections show a two percent increase for the collection period and two percent increase for the year-to-date returening $ 313,587,946 to the communities in which the sales tax was collected.