Brookhaven and other Mississippi municipalities experienced some”summertime blues” as July 2004 sales tax collections droppedcompared to the same period last year.

According to totals from the Mississippi State Tax Commission,Brookhaven’s sales tax receipts last month slipped to $320,579.31,a decline of more than $47,000 from a July 2003 total of$367,987.96. The July 2004 total placed Brookhaven 24th among thestate’s top sales tax collectors.

Brookhaven was not alone in seeing a decrease. Twenty-one of thestate’s top 25 had lower sales tax collections this July ascompared to last July.

Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce President KennyGoza speculated the lower totals were the result of a generalletdown due to summer vacations, still-high gasoline prices andeconomic uncertainty.

Goza remained optimistic that August totals, which will reflectpurchases made in July, will rebound as people prepared for thestart of school again. He also said Brookhaven-area economicdevelopment activities were strong.

“Hopefully, August will pick back up for us,” Goza said. “We’vestill got a lot of building and growth going on in ourcommunity.”

Goza encouraged citizens to continue to shop at home for theirpurchases during the rest of the year.

“It puts money back into our community and is an investment inour community,” Goza said.

Like much of the rest of the state, sales tax collections insouthwest Mississippi communities were also down.

McComb collected $391,454.46 as its share of July sales tax.McComb’s July 2004 total, which placed the city 17th in statewiderankings, represented a decrease of approximately $45,000 from theJuly 2003 total of $436,957.63.

In Lawrence County, Monticello’s July total was off severalthousand dollars from last year. Its July 2004 collections were$34,286.53 compared to $36,923.61 last year.

In Franklin County, Meadville merchants took in $9,139.08 forthe town’s share of July 2004 sales tax. That was down about $1,000from last year’s $10,282.58.

Also in Franklin County, Bude businesses rang up $7,935.81 inJuly for the town, a slight decrease from July 2003’s$8,093.39.

Wesson businesses’ July sales tax collections fell to$10,491.52, a $2,500 decrease from the $12,940.83 received lastJuly.

With July being the start of the state’s fiscal year,year-to-date collections were the same as cities’ monthly totals.Year-to-collections provide a running total of how much amunicipality has received from sales tax during the fiscalyear.