Brookhaven’s tax diversion receipts for the past four months demonstrated steady ebb and flow in the tide of local spending, and citywide sales tax collections for September through December 2017 replicated the same downward-upward pattern as the same quarter of 2016.

Receipts for December 2017 totaled $462,076.84, which marked a $13,718.63 decrease from November 2017. Meanwhile, December 2017 receipts illustrated a decline of $25, 171.63 in collections from the same month in 2016.

But the Brookhaven economy proved slightly stronger in 2017 than in the previous year. Receipts for 2017 indicated a $12,357.86 increase in sales tax collections from 2016, rising from an annual intake of $2.839 million to $2.842 million.

Across Mississippi, the total of all sales tax diversions collected in 2017 was $215,699,834.19. That number represents a statewide boost of $747,670.20 from 2016.

Sales tax has a three-month cycle. In month one, tax is collected by the retailer, then paid to the Mississippi Department of Revenue in the second month. In the third month, the diversion is paid by MDOR to the cities. Reports are based on the month the tax is collected — month two.