Officials from the Town of Sumrall recently received more good financial news in addition to their newly-opened retail and restaurant locations: the town has recorded a new record in tax revenue for the third time this fiscal year, which began in October.
Numbers from the Mississippi Department of Revenue show the first of those records was set in November, at just more than $83,000. That was followed in February with almost $84,000 and in April with slightly more than $85,000.
“We feel really good about it, even though we understand that prices are going up, and of course that impacts (it),” Mayor Joel Lofton said. “When what used to cost a dollar now costs a dollar twenty-five, that also increases the revenue, because taxes are figured on dollar values.
“So that’s had an effect; even trying to calculate that, it looks like we would have had a record anyway, had we not been dealing with inflation. It seems to be a really positive increase.”
Numbers reported by the department of revenue run approximately two months behind; in other words, numbers from April reflect sales that were made in February.
Lofton attributes the record numbers, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became apparent that residents didn’t necessarily have to leave Sumrall to shop for necessities and other supplies.
“We’ve got a lot of great opportunities locally, and I think once people realized that, they have continued to shop locally more than they did in the past,” he said.
Numbers from the department of revenue also show that from July 1 to date, the Town of Sumrall has brought in $622,981 in tax revenue. That number is significantly higher than the same time at the year prior, when the town generated $521,908 in tax revenue.
Given the recent additions of businesses such as The Local Eatery on Preston Street, Lofton expects to see even more record numbers in the near future.
“In the past month, we have had two new dining establishments open and two new retail establishments open,” he said. “So by adding those to our tax base, I would certainly imagine that we would see additional records set this year. We’re making constant progress on the development of the Family Dollar Tree site (on Mississippi 42); the building structure is up now, and we would expect to add them to our tax base within two to three months.
“So I see things as continuing in a positive and upward trend. I know that inflation is impacting us all, but even if we were to take out the impact of inflation, it appears that our numbers would still be above where they have been in previous years. If we take out what the government is telling us the inflation rate is, our numbers still look very good.”
