For the third consecutive month, Vicksburg’s sales tax revenue for the 2021 fiscal year exceeded collections for the same period in 2020.

According to information from the city’s accounting department, sales tax collections for May totaled $721,830, about a 2.85-percent increase over the $701,860 collected during the same period in 2020 and $32,556 more than collected in May 2019. Sales tax collections for March and April 2021 also exceeded collections for the same periods for 2020 and 2019.

The May collections of $256,003 from the city’s 2-percent special sales tax to pay for the Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi sports complex exceeded collections of $160,963 in May 2020 by about 59.54 percent. It exceeded 2019 collections by about $32,629.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. announced the increase at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The state reimburses the city 18.5 percent of the sales taxes collected inside the city limits. The 2-percent sales tax is an additional tax levied on food and beverage sales and hotel room rentals. With the exception of an administrative fee charged by the Mississippi Department of Revenue to process the tax, the city keeps all the revenue from the special tax.

“The revenues are phenomenal,” Flaggs said after the meeting, adding he was not surprised by the increase.

“I’ve always said we had the potential to maximize our revenues only if we change our mindset about our city and change our attitude about shopping here first and I think people are doing it,” he said.

With the completion of MCITy and other projects in the downtown area combined with the completion of riverfront development and the return of the cruise boats, Flaggs said, “I think you’re going to see a town you’ve never seen before. I think we’re on the pathway to a greater future for the city.”

With the exception of November and February, monthly sale tax collections in fiscal year 2021 have exceeded the monthly collections during 2020. Year-to-date, total sales tax collections were $5.39 million; 4.88 percent, or $251,332 more than 2020 and $147,770 more than the same period in 2019.

As of May, total collections from the 2-percent tax were $1.59 million; 9.44 percent, or $137,157 more than 2020 and about $4,365 more than the $1.58 million collected in 2019.

June gaming revenue totaled $603,796; 18.11 percent, or $92,573 more than the $511,223 collected during the same period in 2020 and $231,351 more than collected in 2019.