Fort Smith sales tax revenue was down again in January, continuing the trend that started in 2024. The city’s share of the Sebastian County sales tax was $2.341 million in January, down 2.99% from the $2.341 million in the January 2024 report.
The January county tax share was down 4.89% from the $2.388 million forecast by the city. The January sales tax report measures December’s transactions. The tax brought in $24.493 million in 2024, 0.95% lower than 2023.
The city’s share of the countywide tax is important because the revenue provides money for the city’s general fund budget, with much of that budget paying for police, fire and other essential city services.
“Even though the January report indicated that December 2024 spending was down slightly from the previous year and the amount budgeted, it is still encouraging that it was very close to those numbers, indicating that consumer spending is still on par with the previous year,” said Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman.
Fort Smith’s 1% street tax – used for maintenance and new construction on streets, bridges and drainage – generated $2.833 million in revenue in January, down 0.18% from the $2.838 million collected from the tax last year and down 2.13% from the $2.894 the city estimated the tax would create in the 2025 budget.
The tax generated $29.516 million in 2024.
“Although we didn’t match the slight growth predicted in our budget estimate, it’s still quite early to tell how concerned we need to be. There are many things happening nationally that could impact consumer spending this year. The fact that the January report isn’t terribly far off of what was projected I feel is more positive than negative,” Dingman said.
The declines in the January report are up against what were part of record collections in 2024.
PREVIOUS ANNUAL COLLECTION INFO
Fort Smith 1% sales tax collection for streets
2024: $29.516 million
2023: $29.924 million
2022: $28.65 million
2021: $26.667 million
2020: $22.66 million
2019: $21.73 million
2018: $21.503 million
Fort Smith portion of 1% countywide sales tax
2024: $24.493 million
2023: $24.648 million
2022: $23.553 million
2021: $21.49 million
2020: $18.246 million
2019: $17.265 million
2018: $17.043 million
2017: $16.691 million