City of Oxford sees a drop in June sales tax numbers

Published 11:50 am Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The City of Oxford is slowly returning to normal after being shutdown most of the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the June sales tax numbers reflect that.

In June, Oxford took in $750,757.60 in sales tax, which was down roughly $14,000 compared to June of 2019 where Oxford took in $764,605.51. In comparison, Junes sales tax numbers were down roughly $26,000 from May’s collection of $776,964.25.

One contributor to June’s decline in sales tax compared to last year’s is the loss of a NCAA Baseball Regional. Most seasons, Ole Miss is hosting at least a Regional the first weekend of June, bringing three teams and their fans to Oxford for three days. Most seasons the Rebels would be in contention to host a Super Regional the following weekend if things went their way during Regional play.

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Oxford’s stadium tax, or food and beverage tax, was down nearly $40,000 in June compared to 2019. The city brought in $205,550 this year. In 2019, when Oxford was a Regional host, the city brought in $242,167 in stadium tax.

The city’s tourism tax, which includes hotels, was down from June of 2019 as well by over $22,000. Oxford made $21,251 in June compared to $43,548 made in June of last year.

July and August numbers could see a small bump with students returning to campus for the fall semester and parents using hotels during the move-in week. The fall is still an unknown as the Southeastern Conference, or Ole Miss itself, has not announced their plans for fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the Rebels five home football games, starting Sept. 26.

The Mississippi Department of Revenue reports sales tax numbers for each city on a two-month delay.