Sales tax collections in Evangeline Parish down by 4.5 pct.

The amount of sales tax collected throughout the parish this past fiscal year dropped significantly.
The parish collected $17,821,984 in sales tax from July of 2015 to June of 2016, which was $814,108 less than the previous year or 4.3 percent. The only other year that saw a larger decrease in sales tax revenue was the 2013-14 fiscal year, which was down by more than 10 percent.
“That is a big percentage drop,” said Mike Veillon, who serves as Administrator for the Evangeline Parish Sales/Use Tax Commission. “I was definitely disappointed by that number.”
According to Veillon, there are two reasons for the most recent drop-off in parish sales tax collections.
“The continued downturn of the oil field is playing a role,” Veillon said. “Even if you are not laid off yourself, you are going to stop purchasing non-essential goods.”
According to Veillon, another factor in the decrease in sales tax collections could be consumers buying more and more products online, via websites such as Amazon.com.
“I have talked to more than a few people and they have told me that they have bought everything this past Christmas on the internet.”
The parish’s three largest sales tax revenue generators (School Board, Solid Waste, and Police Jury) all posted five-year lows in collections for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
The School Board collected $7,224,576 which was nearly $300,000 less than the year before. Solid Waste brought in $3,613,865 which was down almost $150,000 from last year, while the Police Jury brought in $3,039,492 which was a decrease of $301,628.
Of the nine sales tax collecting entities in the parish, only two (the City of Ville Platte, the Village of Turkey Creek) had an increase in the past fiscal year.
Ville Platte collected $2,849,653 which was a slight increase of $21,439. In fact, Ville Platte is the only one of the nine that has increased every year since 2011-12.
Turkey Creek meanwhile posted a five-year high of $65,695, which is an increase of $8,241 from 2014-15.
Mamou brought in only $611,147 in 2015-16 which was its lowest amount in five years, and down $18,649 from the previous year. Basile posted a four-year low of $175,795 which is down $27,706, as did Pine Prairie which collected $220,650 in 2015-16 but that was down $41,988 from the previous year. Chataignier collected $21,111 which was its lowest amount since 2013-14.
Despite the disappointing report, Veillon says that the sales tax revenue could easily swing the other way.
“Sales tax collections is like a roller coaster,” Veillon said. “You will have your ups and your downs.”