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Washington County's sales tax collection for the month of July this fiscal year is the highest it has ever been in recent years.

District Three Commissioner Mike Dunlap said he is ecstatic to see the numbers. He said the half-cent sales tax generated $280,000 while the full-cent tax generated over $560,000.

Washington County saw an increase of $8,000 in sales tax collections from this time a year ago. This collection is the highest collection for Washington County dating back to 2015.

Commissioner Dunlap said he expected to see a drop-off in collections this month. He said this reflects the sales tax collected between the time things were still partially closed because of the pandemic, to when the State of Oklahoma full re-opened.

Sales tax helps tremendously with the maintenance of county roadways. No ad valorem taxes go towards the road districts. Commissioner Dunlap said if you live in Washington County, they really need you to spend your money locally to support the road districts and the maintenance that they do. He said sales tax is the only thing they have to operate on.

Washington County's sales tax also helps with the operation of the Detention Center in Bartlesville. Commissioner Dunlap said the collections help with the general overall budget. He added that the fuel tax, which helps with payroll, was down significantly last month. The hope is that the revenue will rebound as we continue to get back to normalcy.

The increase in sales tax collections may be caused by the travel of people to northeast Oklahoma. Commissioner Dunlap said he has seen more people from Kansas coming to Bartlesville and the surrounding area to eat and recreate. He said the addition of the Tower Center of Unity Square in downtown Bartlesville will attract more people to Washington County, which should help with sales tax collections; it will help with future growth and maintenance of Washington County.