A key economic indicator for local government is monthly sales tax revenues.
Sales taxes are the mother’s milk of local governments, and Shreveport is no different. Unfortunately the revenue reports are somewhat delayed.
The Shreveport April tax numbers were only posted the city’s website on June 20. Yes, 50 days after the end of the reporting period.
Various reasons are giving for this every month lag time. However in the day of instant everything, the justifications seem lame to say the least.
For bean counters, here are the numbers:
Jan. 2019 $11,558,558
Jan 2018 $11,541,058
Feb. 2019 $9,828,730
Feb. 2018 $9,186,471
7% increase
Mar.2019 $9,120,085
Mar.2018 $8,719,508
5% increase
April 2019 $11,261.858
April 2018 $11,030,177
2% increase
That’s a total increase of 3% for the first 4 months of 2019.
These calculations are based on monthly reports from the Sales & Use Tax Commission, adjusted for refunds.
Bottom line, Shreveport’s economy from the prospective of sales tax revenues is better than last year.