Mt. Juliet trails in second place

From Post staff reports

According to sales tax numbers released Thursday by Lebanon Mayor Philip Craighead’s office, the City of Lebanon out-collected rival City of Mt. Juliet by almost $400,000 in local sales tax dollars for the month of September.

In a report issued by the Tennessee Department of Revenue earlier this week, the City of Lebanon is shown to have net collections of just more than $1.4 million in local sales taxes, while Mt. Juliet posted net collections of $1 million, Wilson County government $318,000, and the City of Watertown $21,500.

Sales tax receipts are a direct reflection on the amount of retail sales within the community. For each dollar of goods sold a sales tax of 9.25 cents is collected. Of that amount, 2.25 cents is recognized as a “local option tax” and contributed back to local government.

The Department of Revenue posts sale tax collections monthly for each Wilson County municipality and for Wilson County government. Sales made inside a municipality’s corporate city limits are applied to that city’s receipts while all other sales are regarded as collections due county government.

So far, local sales tax collections for the county’s three municipalities are up for the same period one year ago.

The positive trend in sales tax collections points to an improving economy.

In recent weeks Wilson County has seen a reduction in unemployment percentages and an uptick in the real estate market, all of which are contributing factors, according to local government officials, in a stronger local economy.