Sales taxes slid in July, the first month of the fiscal year, in eight of the 12 Twin County-area municipalities.

The state’s first sales tax holiday might have taken a bite out of some town’s returns, and could have an impact on August returns, as well.

The July downturn could also be a result of the increase in shopping in June, leaving consumers with less need or money for July shopping.

Bruce was one of the four town that saw higher returns for July, and the one with the biggest increase. The Sawmill Festival on the second weekend may have contributed to the tax bump, with more people in town for the event.

Bruce Chamber of Commerce president Billy McCord reported a larger than expected take for the Chamber and participating clubs from festival proceeds, which signals a greater traffic volume for Sawmill weekend.

Houlka, Vardaman and Slate Springs also saw upticks in their sales tax returns.

Calhoun City, one of the few towns in the area to end the previous fiscal year in positive collections territory, had a sizable decline of about $2,500 from the previous July.

Other area towns dropped by huge proportions. Big Creek’s returns dropped by almost half from the previous July, and Woodland and Mantee dropped by more than a quarter.

June

Seven of the municipalities in the Twin County area, including the five largest, all pulled in higher sales figures for June 2009 than in June 2008.

For the year, however, only two towns closed the fiscal year ahead of 2008's collections.

Calhoun City ended the 2008-2009 fiscal year with $6,000 more in sales tax returns than in 2008. The only other town to best FY 2008 was Vardaman, which finished the previous fiscal year $3,500 ahead.

Calhoun City’s returns in June were $2,000 of the previous June, accounting for a third of the year’s increase. Vardaman was up about $150 in June.

Houston’s returns in June were up almost $4,000 for the month, which cut away about a fifth of the town’s tax loss for the year. For the year, Houston’s coffers are $21,000 lighter from sales tax reductions.

The $2,000 Bruce gained in June over the previous June helped keep the town from matching Houston’s loss, but the loss was still high. Returns there are $19,000 short of FY 2008.

A $2,000 decrease in returns to Woodland exacerbated losses there. The continued bad market for home sales and furniture pushed that town’s returns down by $15,000.

Okolona’s sales resulted in $2,300 more in returns for June, cutting a little more than half from the returns deficit. Okolona ended the year down about $1,600 in returns.

For the rest of the region:

- Big Creek – down $160 for the month, down $1,200 for the year.

- Derma – down $450 for the month, down $3,300 for the year.

- Houlka – up $30 for the month, down $1,800 for the year.

- Mantee – down $250 for the month, down $3,100 for the year.

- Pittsboro – up $15 for the month, down $56 for the year.

- Slate Springs – down $76 for the month, down $300 for the year.