In the fourth monthly report showing effects from the COVID-19 economic crash, the August sales and use tax summary shows combined General Fund collections in Oklahoma City were well above the monthly projection and up slightly compared to the same month last year.

The General Fund pays for the City’s day-to-day operations. Sales tax is the General Fund’s largest single source of revenue, and use tax is the second-largest.

The August report includes tax collections for the last half of June and estimated collections in the first half of July. August is the second month of fiscal year 2021.

Read the General Fund’s full August sales and use tax report here.

Sales tax summary

General Fund sales tax collections for July were about $22 million. That’s around $2.6 million (13.2%) above the projection and $90,000 (0.4%) below the same month last year.

General Fund sales tax revenue is about 9% (about $3.5 million) above the fiscal year-to-date projection and 4.1% (about $1.8 million) below this point last year.

Use tax summary

General Fund use tax collections, which typically fluctuate more than sales tax collections, were about $6 million for August. That’s around $900,000 (17.8%) above the projection and $844,000 (16.5%) above the same month last year.

General Fund use tax revenue is about 14.4% (about $1.4 million) above the fiscal year-to-date projection and 13.1% (about $1.3 million) above this point last year.

About sales and use tax

Sales tax comes from retail sales in Oklahoma City. Use tax is charged at the same rate and comes from goods purchased elsewhere and shipped or brought to Oklahoma City, like online sales or equipment not available from Oklahoma suppliers.

The overall sales tax rate in most of Oklahoma City is 8.625%, and 4.125 cents of each dollar in taxable sales goes to the City. Of that, 2 ¼ cents is allocated to the City’s General Fund, one cent goes to MAPS 4, three-fourths of a cent is dedicated to Police and Fire, and one-eighth of a cent goes to the Zoo. The rest of the sales tax belongs to the state.

The City collected around $48.3 million in total sales and use tax revenue during the August reporting period, including collections for the General Fund, Police, Fire, the Zoo and MAPS 4.

Learn more about municipal taxes in Oklahoma City at okc.gov/tax.

Note: Oklahoma City businesses located in Cleveland, Canadian and Pottawatomie counties collect a slightly higher sales tax rate due to county sales tax.

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Media Contact
Kristy Yager
(405) 297-2550
kristy.yager@okc.gov