UC outgains the state again in May’s state sales tax report

July 1, 2014

UPPER CUMBERLAND – Despite a higher than normal number of counties in the negative, the Upper Cumberland had a good state sales tax collection report in May. The region again outpaced the state in terms of year-over-year gains. The UC was up 4.4 percent while Tennessee numbers showed a slight increase of 0.9.

“Overall, the numbers looked fairly good,” said Henry Bowman, analyst with the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD), which compiles the data. “It’s encouraging that we did better than the state as a whole; 4.4 (percent) versus 0.9. And, of course, we had the usual fluctuation in our smaller counties. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Putnam and DeKalb were among the brightest spots for the month. Putnam was up 12.5 percent with collections topping $7.7 million. DeKalb, meanwhile, brought in $864,081 for a similar gain of 12.3. Other counties that saw increases were Pickett (8.2), Macon (5.1), Smith (2.9) and Warren (1.4).

Seeing decreases were Van Buren (-21.7), White (-8.7), Clay (-4.7), Overton (-2.9), Cumberland (-1.9), Cannon (-1.8), Fentress (-0.7) and Jackson (-0.6).

Having eight counties in the red is the highest total for the region since December’s report. Could that be a sign of a slowdown?

“We’ll see how it develops,” Bowman said. “One month doesn’t mean a whole lot necessarily. My anecdotal indicator is that traffic around Cookeville seems to be as (heavy) as it’s ever been,” he added. “I just don’t have a lot of other information, unless they’re all coming here to shop.”

In terms of annual numbers, DeKalb, Putnam and Smith are outpacing the state, with increases of 5.2, 5.7 and 5.9 percent, respectively. Tennessee has seen a 3.2 percent gain during that time. The region, in comparison, is up 3.3 percent.

Collections, which are considered just one measure of economic activity, are based on state sales taxes; local option taxes are excluded. Sales data lags by one month; for example, May numbers reflect April activity.

Counties	May	Year prior	Percent change
Cannon	$291,641	$297,122	-1.8
Clay	$207,890	$218,100	-4.7
Cumberland	$3,697,931	$3,770,603	-1.9
DeKalb	$864,081	$769,719	12.3
Fentress	$667,976	$672,730	-0.7
Jackson	$163,391	$164,323	-0.6
Macon	$918,364	$874,127	5.1
Overton	$755,137	$778,081	-2.9
Pickett	$164,991	$152,472	8.2
Putnam	$7,757,380	$6,895,925	12.5
Smith	$816,196	$793,097	2.9
Van Buren	$85,723	$109,497	-21.7
Warren	$2,002,507	$1,974,341	1.4
White	$1,061,867	$1,163,183	-8.7
UCDD	$19,455,075	$18,633,320	4.4
TN	$590,248,000	$584,795,000	0.9