Sales taxes see gains in January; Mt. Vernon second highest ever

Mt. Vernon general fund tops $90,000 for third year straight, county also enjoys substantial increase in revenue
 
Sales tax to Lawrence County cities and government bodies had a mixed report in January. While countywide taxes saw a big boom in receipts, several cities either slipped below last January’s numbers or inched out slight gains.
In addition, recipients took in two years’ worth of interest from the Department of Revenue, a traunch generated from tax received from July 2023 to June of 2025. It was an unprecedented second month of consecutive interest payments, compared to once or twice a year, adding $49,983.97 to 37 different taxes collected in that two-year period.
The six Lawrence County cities took in $664,386.99 from sales tax in January, up 9 percent from a year ago. Mt. Vernon and Miller ended up on the downside of the tallies from a year ago, even with the interest.
Mt. Vernon
Mt. Vernon’s 1 percent tax supporting its general fund generated $93,180 with interest, down $2,938.25 from last January. That’s nonetheless the second highest January total on record, sustaining three years in a row where the general fund total topped $90,000.
Aurora
Aurora led the charge for the month. Its 1 percent sales tax paying general bills produced $141,944.03 with interest, up $24,088.29 or 20 percent from a year ago, a new January record. Combining all four Aurora sales taxes and its use tax, revenues for the month were up by more than $61,000.
Marionville
Marionville’s 1 percent tax paying general bills brought in $15,349.79, down $1,306.90 from a year ago. Marionville’s use tax showed a slight gain of $700. Marionville’s January receipts, combining all five sales taxes and the use tax, have been on a bubble for several years, going from $47,600 in 2022 to almost $66,600 in 2024 then back down to almost $49,000 this year.
Miller
Miiler’s two sales taxes supporting its general fund yielded $8,234.04 with interest, up $1,412.21 from a year ago. Combining all five of Miller’s taxes, revenues were up more than $3,000 from a year ago, but still down almost $2,000 from January of 2024.
Pierce City
Pierce City’s two sales taxes supporting the general fund at 1.125 percent received $9,332.18, up $2,265.01 from a year ago, but only slightly denting the $6,300 drop in December. It was the city’s second gain in five months, though the November increase was only by $25. Not since 2020 has Pierce City typically seen general fund receipts in the $9,000 range.
Verona
Verona eked out a marginal gain from its 1 percent sales tax paying general bills. The city received $2,191.17, up $19.39 thanks to the interest disbursement. It was Verona’s first gain in six months, a total comparable to what the city received in 2010.
Countywide taxes
Lawrence County saw strong returns on its countywide taxes for the month. The two older half-cent taxes supporting general operations and road maintenance each produced more than $170,270 with interest, up more than $15,240 each or 9 percent for the month, cutting the red ink from December nearly in half. Use tax revenues were up an additional $36,202.95.
The separate half-cent tax supporting central dispatching and 911 services brought in $181,267.85 with interest in January, a gain of $17,647.61 or 11 percent over last January.