Community Corner
Oconee County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Growth Rate For Year Exceeds Rates Of Clarke and Barrow
Both Athens-Clarke County and Barrow County actually collected more money last month than did Oconee.
Oconee County collected more tax revenue in December of 2014 from its Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax than it has in any month since the tax began in October of 2009.
The December collections were up 13.1 percent from December of 2013, representing the second month in a row in which growth compared with a year ago was at that level. SPLOST revenues in November were up 13.0 percent from November of 2013.
Both Athens-Clarke County and Barrow County also experienced growth in their SPLOST tax revenues in December compared with a year earlier, but the Oconee County growth rate was considerably larger, and the average growth rate for Oconee County over the last 12 months greatly exceeds the growth rate during that same period in the two neighboring counties.
Oconee County continues to be the smallest of the three counties in terms of retail sales, with Oconee County’s $653,483 in December SPLOST revenue lower than the $805,121 collected in Barrow and the $2,152,597 collected in Athens-Clarke County.
For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.