Brookhaven’s sales tax income climb has continued for a third consecutive month.

Tax income diverted to the city of Brookhaven was $533,666.13 for the month of January. This amount was an increase of $46,417.66 over December, and a rise of $4,737.01 over January 2016.

The total for the fiscal year to date, since July 1, 2016, is $3,363,915.15. These numbers represent an annual increase of more than $424,000 since this same time just five years ago.

City Clerk Michael Jinks correctly noted at the close of 2016 that holiday shopping would result in a boost to tax diversions for the city once those monies had been processed.

Mayor Joe Cox said, “We are blessed to have such a vibrant economy and we see through the increased sales tax revenue the benefits of shopping locally.”

Sales tax has a three-month cycle. Month one is when the tax is collected by the retailer; month two is when the tax is reported and paid to the Department of Revenue by the retailer; and in month three, the sales tax diversion is paid by the Mississippi Department of Revenue to the cities.

This means the amount labeled as “January” shows the tax collected in the previous month of December, for which the city receives a check in February. These reports are provided by the MDR.

Five other area cities receive tax diversions. Crystal Springs received $68,249.50, up more than $5,000 over January 2016, and overall down by just a few hundred compared to last year’s year-to-date numbers.

Hazlehurst received $122,525.30, down $3,000 compared to one year ago, and down over $37,000 in year-to-date comparisons.

Monticello’s diversions were up more than $3,500 to $53,259.19 for January, over one year ago, but year-to-date totals were down nearly $7,000.

New Hebron received $7,903.04, slightly up from January 2016’s $7,846.75. Year-to-date numbers for the city were up nearly $3,000 to $51,295.12.

Silver Creek received $2,430.46, down comparatively from January 2016, when receipts were $2,778.03. The year-to-date total of $17,856.03 is also down from last year, by just over $3,000.