Oklahoma City’s General Fund tax collections up, but below projections

The July sales tax report shows General Fund collections in Oklahoma City were up 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year, below the monthly projection by 1.3 percent.

The July report includes collections for the last half of May and estimated collections in the first half of June, which total about $22.1 million for the General Fund. That’s around $301,000 below the projection.
July is the first month of fiscal year 2020. General Fund sales tax revenue finished the last fiscal year 0.3 percent (about $880,000) above the projection.

The July report is the 26th time in the last 27 months that Oklahoma City recorded year-over-year sales tax revenue growth. The General Fund pays for the City’s day-to-day operations. Sales tax is the City’s largest single source of revenue.

The City collected around $40.6 million in total sales tax revenue during the July reporting period, including collections for the General Fund, Police, Fire, the Zoo and Better Streets, Safer City. 
Read the full July sales tax report here (https://www.okc.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=14728). 

About sales tax: The overall sales tax rate in most of Oklahoma City is 8.625 percent, and 4.125 cents of each dollar in taxable sales goes to the City. Of that, 2 ¼ cents is allocated to the City’s General Fund, one cent goes to Better Streets, Safer City sales tax projects, three-fourths of a cent is dedicated to Police and Fire, and one-eighth of a cent goes to the Zoo. The rest of the sales tax belongs to the state.

Note: Oklahoma City businesses located in Cleveland and Canadian Counties collect a slightly higher sales tax rate due to county sales tax.