Sales tax collection continues to dip in Vermilion Parish

Sales tax collection continues to drop throughout the parish and it looks like there is no end in sight.
The parish collected $500,000 less in sales tax than it did a year ago.
In July, the big three, School Board, Police Jury and the Sheriff’s Office saw a 15 percent drop in a sales collection.
In a month, the School Board is down $130,000 in collections, while the Sheriff’s Office is down $69,000 and the Police Jury is down $138,000.
The big three are all down at least 12 percent in sales tax collection for 2016.
Vermilion Parish Sheriff Mike Couvillon said his department is adjusting to the loss of revenue.
“We have made adjustments in all areas, scrutinizing every requisition with a double pass,” said Couvillon. “We have scaled down our preplanned equipment purchases to absolute need and have postponed some too. There are no new raises planned for this fiscal year. The belt is tight and will remain so until these economic conditions improve. Presently there are no plans to cut any services.”
Municipalities are also witnessing a drop but it fluctuates on the decrease.
The City of Abbeville experienced an eight percent drop which equals to about $23,000 less in collections.
The city of Kaplan is down $7,000 or about 14 percent.
The town of Erath is down 7 percent or about $1,000. Delcambre collected $13,1000 which is about equal to last year.
The Village of Maurice had the biggest loss of 52 percent in collections. Last year the Village collected a record $83,000 in July of 2015. This past July, the Village collected $40,000, which is its average collection.
The Vermilion Parish Tourism Department is also taking a big hit. The department has averaged a decline of 20 percent in collections. The tourist commission gets its money from a hotel and motel tax collected throughout the parish. If no one is staying in hotels in the parish, collection is down.
In July, the tourist commission collected $3,500 which is $1,000 less than a year ago.
Seven months into the year, the tourist commission is down 37 percent or around $15,000. The tourist commission projected a hotel tax collection of $65,000 for the year. It is projected to collect a record low $50,000.
The Kaplan Hospital District is down 17 percent or about $16,000 while the Abbeville Hospital District 2 is down $28,000 in collections.
The district collected $239,000 a year ago. and $211,000 this year.