By Rupert Howell
Tax disbursements for municipalities derived from a percentage of sales tax paid in July have been issued to municipalities with Batesville receiving approximately the same as the corresponding month in 2013 and the City of Sardis showing an increase for the same period.

The tax disbursements that are used to help finance city budgets came from $774,343,419 in Panola County sales with a calculated tax of $2,615,053 countywide.

The City of Batesville received $333,790 as its share. Since the state’s fiscal year began July 1, sales tax funds coming back to the city have increased one percent totaling $676,792.

Batesville’s Tourism and Development Tax for August, a three percent tax on lodging and restaurants,  increased seven percent over August 2013 bringing in $96,117.

A similar tax in Sardis decreased two percent over the same period raising $8,386 for that municipality.

Other Panola municipalities received the following amounts as their share of sales tax, followed by the percentage of increase and decrease compared with July of 2013 as:  Como, $11,827, -16; Courtland, $1,772, -52; Crenshaw, $4,404, +10; Crowder, $2,046, +31; Pope, $1,785, -27; and Sardis, $25,306, +4.

Other nearby municipalities received the following amounts with percentage of change compared to July, 2013 as: Charleston, $30,661, +1; Grenada, $331,932, -2; Lambert, $1,845, -58; Marks, $13,171, -35; Oakland, $$7,481, -19; Oxford, $537,626, -1; Senatobia, $170,192, +4; Taylor, $1,447, -14; Water Valley, $41,833, +5.

Total disbursements statewide are four percent below July of 2013 totaling $32,230,124.