For the third straight month, sales tax collections are reported up in Vicksburg and up over the same time period last year.

Vicksburg receives 18.5 percent of all sales taxes collected by businesses inside the city. Revenues to the city lag actual sales tax collections by two months; for example, receipts for April reflect taxes collected on sales in February. The city’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

According to the city’s sales tax report, which is based on the Mississippi Department of Revenue’s monthly statistics, the September sales tax receipts received this month totaled $578,262, 1.81 percent more than the $567,957 collected in September 2010.

August sales tax collections received in October totaled $637,673, 9.54 percent more than the $582,154 collected in August 2010, while sales tax disbursements for July, which were received in September, were 1.12 percent over 2010. July tax collections totaled $615,497 compared with $608,681 in July 2010.

The September receipts were the last for the fiscal year, putting the city’s total sales tax revenue for fiscal 2011 at $7.2 million, .30 percent less than the $7.22 million collected in fiscal 2010.

“I think it’s great that our revenues for September exceeded 2010,” Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield said. “That’s very good news. It sends out a message that Vicksburg is open for business.”