The 2018 fiscal year marked the first time since 2010 that sales tax revenue collected in Oxford declined.
The decline is due, in part, to the rise of online shopping, according to Oxford Alderwoman Janice Antonow. She said that, before the recent enacting of a state law that allows Mississippi to collect sales tax from online retailers, only brick-and-mortar stores were required to pay sales taxes.
“A (state) law was passed where all online purchases do have to be taxed,” Antonow said. “The state will receive the revenue, and then it will be distributed back to the cities. This won’t happen until the end of the year, and it will be phased in, gradually.”
Sales tax for the state of Mississippi is seven percent. Under the new law, 18 percent of sales tax revenue collected will be redistributed from the state back to its cities.
According to the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor, sales tax revenue for the city of Oxford totalled $9,721,820 for the 2017 fiscal year. In 2018, revenue was $9,679,239, which is a 0.44 percent loss. The number represented a downturn in what had been a time of consistent growth.
Throughout the last eight years, Oxford has seen yearly growth in the amount of sales tax revenue collected — until now.
The decrease in revenue does not appear to be significant until it is accompanied by the fact that between 2013 and 2017, Oxford’s sales tax revenue experienced a 37.5 percent increase. The largest revenue gain between two fiscal years was from 2015 to 2016, when the amount jumped from $8,142,926 to $9,146,938 — a 12.33 percent gain.
The lack of revenue could be bad for businesses that rely heavily on tourism dollars to make ends meet. At the city level, new methods and marketing strategies are being created to attempt to attract visitors to Oxford.
“As far as marketing efforts go, we do a lot on social media. We have also started to target fans from the visiting schools (during football season) that may not have been to Oxford before but (that) may have some interest in doing so,” said Mary Allyn Hedges, director of the Oxford Visitor’s Center.
Hedges said the visitor’s center is exploring options to get people to Oxford that may not have visited recently and “don’t realize how much we have to offer.” The visitor’s center is offering double-decker bus rides on Fridays before home football games and on Oct. 19, the evening before the Auburn game, it will be bringing back Square Jam.
Square Jam was an annual event that took place on the Oxford Square that featured a basketball court placed between the courthouse and Neilson’s Department Store. It is returning after a two-year hiatus and will display a dunk contest as well as a 3-point shootout held among the members of the Ole Miss men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Hedges also brought up the importance of supporting Oxford’s hotel industry and urged weekend visitors to attempt to seek lodging within the city as opposed to staying in surrounding areas, if at all possible.
“We want to get the message out that when there are hotel rooms available in Oxford for big weekends, fans are encouraged to consider staying in town to take advantage of what we have to offer rather than finding lodging in a neighboring city,” Hedges said.
The Oxford Tourism Council is also implementing special marketing projects to attract more visitors. Groups that meet eligibility requirements and have an interest in choosing Oxford to host an event may apply for a grant that is funded by the 2 percent tax on lodging and prepared food.
