City Sales Tax Income Up
Total revenue from the city’s share of the 1.25 percent countywide sales tax showed even more growth.
From it, Fort Smith took in $1.23 million, a 4.38 percent rise from a year-earlier $1.18 million.
The city collected another $1.52 million from a 1 percent tax to pay off the bonded debt funding of the Lake Fort Smith water project.
Ray Gosack, acting co-administrator of the city of Fort Smith, said he would attribute at least some of the increase in revenues from the 1 percent taxes to the Jan. 16 opening of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter near Kelley Highway and Interstate 540.
“(2008) is higher than ’06 and was higher than we’ve had,” he said. “I wonder if some of the January activity might have been redemption of gift cards. It’s usually not booked until it’s redeemed so it’s possible some of the increase is a result of that.”
Reuters reported in February that gift card redemptions helped many retailers nationwide in January.
Joan Sloat, owner of Now and Then Shoppe Inc., said nearly all the gift cards she sold during the holidays were redeemed by shoppers in January.
In addition to gift shop items, she said the store also retails antiques and furniture for home interiors — a sales category the National Retail Federation cited as weak in January.
