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As the general election kicks off, Baxter County continues to see record highs in sale tax revenue.
The most recent numbers to be released for Baxter County come from this month and show a 9.2% increase in revenue from the same time last year.
Baxter County currently has a 1% sales tax that funds all of its operations. When revenue from the sales tax comes into the county’s accounts, roughly 58% of that money is set aside for the county itself. The remaining 42% of the money is distributed throughout the county’s eight cities. How much each city receives is based on its current population.
In this month alone, Baxter County pulled in $491,810.22. The county received $450,413.13 in sales tax revenue during the same time frame last year.
Altogether, Baxter County has raised $4,760,266.07 from its sales tax this year, a full $471,929.11, or 11% more than it did by Oct. of last year. Out of that total, the county has kept $3,232,158 for its own operating costs. That means the county currently has a 11.4% increase in revenue for its operating costs.
Baxter County also has an additional 0.25% sales tax that is used for the maintenance and operation of the Baxter County Detention Center. That sales tax earned the county jail a total of $1,418,773 over the past seven months, with $217,672 coming in July alone.
Baxter County had a revenue projection of $4,083,333.90 for the 2022 fiscal year. It crushed that project by 16.6%.
The Baxter County Jail has also seen a jump in sales tax revenue this month. The jail brought in $215,882.66 for Oct., a full $18,171.47 or 9.2% above the same time last year.
To date, the county jail has raised $2,089,543.57 for the year, a full 12.4% above the same time last year. The county jail was projected to earn $1,666,666.70 this year. It beat that project by $422.876.87 or 25.4%
Baxter County city’s also saw a good haul this month with Big Flat bringing in $1,825.51, Briarcliff with $4,895.70, Cotter with $18.379.61, Gassville with $45,036.27, Lakeview with $16,076.97, Mountain Home with $266,048.01, Norfork with $9.646.18, and Salesville with $9,812.16.
Altogether, the county and its various city governments have raised $8,358,174.29 in sales tax since the beginning of the year.
