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Mayor reports March dip in sales and use tax, suggests shifting hotel‑motel tax collection to Tax Commission
Summary
The mayor told the Pryor Creek City Council that March receipts were lower than typical, outlined a backlog in hotel‑motel deposits, and recommended the council consider a resolution to have the Tax Commission collect the hotel‑motel tax going forward.
Mayor called members’ attention to lower March receipts and described the month as one of the city’s “lowest” historically for reporting. The mayor said the city is “down 41,000 from last year” on sales tax and that the city’s used‑tax receipts were “a pretty hard hit,” coming in at about “99,0810,” which the mayor said was “79,000 down from last year.”
The mayor emphasized the city’s rolling average for sales tax remains higher than prior years, saying “our average is still 948,000,” and described the month as an expected shortfall that the council would likely see rebound in future months. The mayor noted tobacco tax receipts were “pretty flat” and repeated his concern that hotel‑motel tax figures showed unusual timing: receipts being deposited now included payments from prior months or prior years, creating a backlog in reporting for the period shown on the council packet.
The mayor recommended that the council consider asking the Tax Commission to take over collection of the hotel‑motel tax, saying, “I think it is in the best interest of the city to let the tax commission go ahead and collect these taxes and take it off of our plate.” He argued the Tax Commission has more enforcement tools — “more bite” — for assessing penalties and collecting interest and that outsourcing could save staff time even after paying the commission’s fee. The mayor asked staff to analyze the process and, if ready, to put a resolution on a future council agenda.
A council member observed that switching collection would require council approval and that the council “would need to approve a resolution.” The mayor asked staff to check the process before placing the item on an agenda; he and staff agreed to follow up and bring the item forward when ready.
No formal action was taken at the meeting on changing the collection method; the mayor characterized the month as a routine low month for sales tax receipts and asked for further analysis and a possible agenda placement for a resolution.
Ending: The mayor closed the report by reiterating that March’s low receipts were expected in the seasonal trend and that staff would work with council members on verifying the hotel‑motel deposit issues and the mechanics of a transfer to the Tax Commission.
