Harlan Kirgan
Total sales tax collections in St. Landry Parish through July were 3 percent ahead of the same period in 2017, according to statistics released Friday by the St. Landry Parish School Board Sales Tax Division.
Parish collections for the seven months totaled $40,954,187, up $1,219,830 from the January through July collections in 2017.
The parish sales tax total includes collections for the parish government, School Board, solid waste, law enforcement, special tax districts and municipalities.
The parish collections in July totaled $6,396,248, up 6.5 percent from the July 2017 total.
The parish collection rose 2.3 percent from June when the total was $6,251,498.
Eunice year-to-date collections reached $3,306,566, up 5.9 percent from the same period in 2017. In a July to July comparison, Eunice collections were $465,138, up 3.75 percent or $16,874 over July 2017.
Eunice’s July total was down $111,546 or 19 percent from June when the total was $576,684.
The parish 2 percent Road District 1 tax that pays for the Smooth Ride Home program reached $4,034,952 through July up 3.7 percent or $142,948 from the same period in 2017. The tax is collected in unincorporated areas.
The road district collections in July were $680,966, up 16 percent from the July 2017’s total.
The July collections in the road district were up 7 percent from June collections, which totaled $634,608.
Opelousas sales tax collections through July totaled $5,852,010, down 1 percent from the same period in 2017. The city’s July total of $911,278 was up 9 percent compared to July 2017 and up 13 percent from June’s total of $803,354.
The Legislature continued a temporary sales tax, but reduced it from 1 to 0.45 percent in July. The total state sales tax rate is 4.45 percent.
The local sales tax rates in Eunice are 2.2 percent city and 3.55 percent parish.
Local sales tax rates in unincorporated St. Landry Parish are 5.5 percent parish tax rates that includes the 2 percent Smooth Ride Home Program tax.