New OC Tax rate raises revenue
With the new Occupational Tax rate of 1.5 percent taking effect on April 1, the County received the first influx of additional revenue from the additional .5 percent, but collections for the month were still below average.
According to the Occupational Tax Office a total of $186,095.98 was added to the General Fund for the month of April. $320 of that total was attributed to Business Permit filings as local businesses are starting to obtain their license before the deadline of July 1.
The new rate accounted for approximately $62,000 in additional revenue for the County. Without the new half percent added on to collections only about $124,000 would have been collected for the month, about $6,000 below what was collected in 2016.
Over the past four years an average of $156,000 was collected in the month.
For the 2016-17 fiscal year a total of $1,013,166 has been collected. A total of $1.135 million was collected in the entire previous fiscal year.
Judge Executive Doug Stephens said Monday there was enough money in the General Fund to pay bills for the Month of April, which were approved at last week’s Fiscal Court meeting.
But questions still remain about the County’s ability to pay bills and claims for the final two months of the fiscal year.
A few months ago it was estimated that the County could see a deficit of about $300,000 for the budget year. Monday Judge Stephens has said recent actions by his administration, such as limiting spending to only essential items, and scouring the budget for any unused allocations have potentially reduced the deficit, but he was unable to estimate a new figure at this time.
