Brookhaven fell backward a bit in its sales tax revenue but still posted a healthy month as reported in the most recent records.

During the month of March, $459,000 was collected from retail activity in Brookhaven according to the state Revenue Department’s April report.

The state sales tax system is on a three-month cycle: the tax is collected in March, for example, was paid to the Revenue Department in April and the check was given to Brookhaven in May.

The latest total for the city is a drop-off from the sale tax activity of March 2012, which saw the city net $465,000 of sales tax revenue.

Still, this is only the second time in six months that the city’s one-month collection total has been above $428,000, so city leaders are happy.

“That’s a good number,” said Brookhaven Mayor Les Bumgarner of the latest sales tax check

On the April report of March collections, Brookhaven recorded the 24th highest total in the state, beating out many cities, including Brandon and Clinton.

McComb likewise slipped backward over last year for the month, while still experiencing strong tax receipts. The Pike County city collected nearly $479,000, outperforming Brookhaven but seeing about $10,000 less than the March 2012 collection.

Natchez, however, both improved its sales tax numbers over last year and had a strong total; the Adams County city hit more than $500,000 for its March collections as compared to March 2012’s $483,000.

“Must have been a pretty good retail month all the way around,” Bumgarner said, regarding the totals of regional cities. “Everyone usually stays together; we go up together or go down together.”

The mayor speculated that income tax refunds may have helped drive retail activity during the reporting period.

“You’d be surprised how much activity is generated from people getting their tax refunds,” he said.

A rising tide lifted other smaller regional neighbors. At nearly $15,000, Wesson saw a little improvement over last year’s numbers.

Monticello likewise bettered its totals over last year and brought in about $42,000 during the most recent March.

Meadville, at $10,000, and Bude, at $11,000, also saw a boost in collections.

Since July of last year, Brookhaven has collected about $4.288 million in sales tax revenue. This time last year, the city’s totals stood right at $4.2 million.