With one month to go in the fiscal year, Columbus is closing in on its sales tax revenue target, while Starkville remains on track to exceed its budgeted figure.

Both cities saw an increase in general sales tax collections compared to August 2025, leaving Columbus just $13,391 behind the pace of meeting its $12 million budget.

Starkville remains on track to meet its projected budget of $10.3 million but is anticipating a smaller surplus than in previous months and still lags behind its Fiscal Year 2025 collections.

Both cities’ budget cycles began Oct. 1. while West Point’s fiscal year began July 1. West Point is on track to surpass its projected $3.1 million budget after two strong months to start its fiscal year.

Sales tax diversion runs on a three-month window. Sales tax is collected at the register in the first month, sent to the Mississippi Department of Revenue in the next, and dispersed to cities in the third. Therefore, August reported collections reflect June sales.

Columbus

Columbus received about $1,062,110 from general sales tax collections this month, representing a 5.95% increase from August 2025 collections of $1,002,482. This also marks a 2.27% increase from last month’s collections of $1,038,563.

So far this fiscal year, Columbus has collected about $10,987,725 from general sales tax collections, a 2.5% increase from last year at this time ($10,685,958).

The city’s restaurant and lounge tax brought in about $230,272, up by 4.36% from last August’s collections of $220,646. This also marks a 2.27% increase from last month’s collections.

Year-to-date, Columbus’ restaurant tax collections are up about 9.98% with about $2,632,366 collected so far this fiscal year, compared to this time last year ($2,393,398).

Columbus collected about $39,399 via its hotel/motel tax, a 30.52% decrease compared from last August ($40,934). This is a 27.7% decrease from last month’s collections of about $39,339.

The city’s hotel tax has brought in about $431,708 so far this fiscal year, a 1.33% decrease compared to this time last year ($437,515).

Starkville

Starkville collected about $827,902 from general sales tax this month, marking a 3.26% increase from last August’s collections. This month’s collections represent a 8.3% drop from last month’s collections of about $902,839.

So far this fiscal year, the city has collected $9,520,400, which is a 0.1% decrease from collections this time last year ($9,529,569). Starkville is still on pace to exceed its $10.3 million projected budget by about $85,891.

The city’s restaurant tax brought in about $240,587 in August, an about 6% decrease from this time last year ($255,911). This collection also marks a 20.31% decrease from last month’s collections of $301,587.

So far this fiscal year Starkville’s restaurant tax brought in $3,071,633, a 4.47% increase from last year’s earnings of $2,940,190.

Starkville collected about $140,497 from its tourism tax this month, marking a 5.55% increase from August 2025 collections of 133,530. This also represents a 20.85% drop from last month’s collections (178,065).

West Point

West Point brought in about $286,572 from general sales tax collections this month, a 15.51% increase from August 2025 collections of about $248,096. This month’s collections are also up 5.41% from last month ($271,858).

West Point begins its fiscal year July 1. So far for its 2027 fiscal year, it has collected $558,430 from general sales tax diversions, marking an 11.16% increase compared to collections this time last year ($502,380). The city is currently on track to surpass its $3.1 million projected budget by $250,000.

The city’s tourism tax brought in about $31,491 this month, a 5.06% decrease from August 2025 collections of $33,167. This marks a 14.86% decrease from last month’s collection of $36,987.

So far this fiscal year the city has brought in $68,478 from its tourism task, a 3.76% decrease from last year’s collections of $71,155.