Fort Smith sales tax collections continued to outpace last year through July, with several of the city's major taxes growing about 3% to 4% year over year.
The city's share of the county sales and use tax generated nearly $14.7 million through July, compared with about $14.1 million during the first seven months of 2025, according to the city's July sales tax report.
That represents an increase of about $615,000, or 4.4%, from the same period last year.
July collections were also stronger than in July 2025. Fort Smith received about $2.17 million from the county sales and use tax in July, up from about $2.05 million in July 2025. That's an increase of about $124,000, or 6%.
Other city sales taxes grew similarly.
Fort Smith's 5/8% sales tax dedicated to Consent Decree sewer work generated nearly $11 million through July, up about 3.4% from about $10.6 million during the same period in 2025.
The city's 1/8% police sales tax generated about $2.2 million through July, up about 3.6% from the same period last year. The 1/4% tax supporting fire and parks generated about $4.4 million, up about 3.4%.
Those taxes also showed stronger year-over-year gains in July. Revenue from the 5/8% Consent Decree tax increased about 5.6% from July 2025, while police tax revenue increased about 5.8% and fire and parks revenue increased about 5.6%.
Comparisons involving another city sales tax are complicated by a change that took effect in June 2025.
The city's former 1% Streets, Bridges and Drainage sales tax was divided into a 5/8% tax for streets and a 3/8% tax for Consent Decree sewer work. Because the full 1% went toward streets during the first five months of 2025, comparing those figures directly with 2026 would show an apparent decline that reflects the tax-rate change rather than a drop in sales tax collections.
The two taxes combined generated about $17.6 million through July 2026, compared with roughly $17 million from the comparable 1% tax collections during the first seven months of 2025, an increase of about 3.4%.
Fort Smith's sales tax report does not identify what is driving the higher collections. Sales tax revenue can be affected by changes in consumer spending as well as higher prices and other factors.
The city collected about $24.5 million from its share of the county sales and use tax during all of 2025. Through July, the city has collected nearly 60% of that amount.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Fort Smith sales tax collections climb 4.4% through July 2026