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Bartlesville City Clerk and Finance Director Jason Muninger said Tuesday that the State sent the City of Bartlesville's sale tax collections last weekend. He said Bartlesville is staying on a positive trend. Currently, the City of Bartlesville is sitting $300,000 above budget anticipation. According to Muninger, that includes the TIF tax reserve.

The tax increment financing or TIF mentioned by Muninger is used to construct the new Silver Lake Shopping Center. He said a certain amount of Bartlesville's sales tax has to be set aside over time as an emergency precaution for debt.

In year one, Muninger said 50-percent of all sales tax received went into the reserve fund. As those rolled out very 12 months, Muninger said it dropped a tier. As they look at those store fronts at the Silver Lake Shopping Center today, they are seeing a 30-percent reserve. That will fall down to 10-percent in another year.

Growth in Bartlesville's sales tax for the current fiscal year is up 2.5-percent compared to last fiscal year. Muninger said that last fiscal year only saw a three quarter of a percent in growth. The two years prior to that the City of Bartlesville saw negative growth with its sale tax. Muninger and the City of Bartlesville are happy to see a slow, steady and positive sales tax growth.