The City of Santa Barbara received $5.2 million in sales tax during the quarter ended Sept. 30, representing the first sales tax payment applicable to the current fiscal year.

Since sales tax is received quarterly from the state and one quarter in arrears, the first full sales tax payment of each fiscal year is not received until December. Sales tax growth for the September quarter was 3.3 percent higher than receipts in the same quarter of last fiscal year.

Sales tax is the second-largest General Fund revenue and continues to show recovery from growth lost during the recession. September quarter receipts, however, are still lower than the amount of sales tax growth received in the September quarter of fiscal year 2007.

The sales tax budget for fiscal year 2014 assumes a growth estimate of 3.5 percent over receipts from fiscal year 2013. Year-to-date growth after one quarter is 3.3 percent and is therefore approximately $79,300 below budget.

Sales tax results for the December quarter, including sales during the holiday shopping season, will be available in March.

The sales tax table can be viewed by clicking here.

Transient Occupancy Tax Grows 12.7% in November

Transient occupancy tax collected in November was 12.7 percent above the amount collected in November 2012, with one additional weekend day this year. TOT continues its strong growth, posting overall growth of 11 percent through November — largely as a result of the increased number of beds and good weather during the first five months of the year.

Year to date, more than $7.9 million in TOT has been collected. The fiscal year 2014 TOT budget is $16,202,000 and factors in a growth rate of 10.4 percent over last year’s collections, which was the highest year on record. Currently, TOT is approximately $44,000 ahead of budget.

The transient occupancy tax table can be viewed by clicking here.

— Genie Wilson is a treasury manager for the City of Santa Barbara.