INDReporter

City sales tax collections up 9% in December

by Leslie Turk

December collections for the city of Lafayette's 2-cent sales tax were up about 9 percent compared with December 2009, rising to $5.7 million, The Advocate reported Friday.

December collections for the city of Lafayette's 2-cent sales tax were up about 9 percent compared with December 2009, rising to $5.7 million, The Advocate reported Friday, citing figures from City-Parish Chief Financial Officer Becky Lalumia. Those collections are for November sales.

The paper also noted that for the first time in eight months, the 1-cent parish sales tax collected in the unincorporated areas over the past two months was higher than the comparable months in 2009. Those collections represent sales from the previous months. Read more here.

While year-end numbers are not yet available, total retail sales through November now trail 2009 by only .32 percent, a significant bounce back from figures reported earlier in the year. Four of the past five months reflect higher sales volume than 2009, with November besting November 2009 by 15.5 percent - rising to $404 million in total sales. The Lafayette Economic Development Authority's models predict December retail sales of $500 million-plus, which would push the parish comfortably over 2009's totals. Through the first 11 months this year, retail sales have totaled $4.32 billion, compared with $4.33 billion in 2009.

But we still won't nearly get where we were in 2008. Lafayette Parish retail sales fell 11.6 percent in 2009, to $4.8 billion, versus $5.4 billion in 2008.