The City of Branson saw a decline in tax revenue in recent monthly reports, but even with declines from 2021, revenue was still near record highs.

Branson received $1,148,646 in 1% sales tax for the month of June, down 5.8% from a 2021 record. June revenue is an indicator of business conducted in the city in April, processed by the state in May, then turned over to the city by the Missouri Department of Revenue.

The amount is the second highest on record for the city for the month of June.

Discounting 2021, the previous month of June was 2016, with revenue of $1,023,756, making 2022 the second highest monthly sales tax revenue in Branson’s history. The 2022 amount is almost $250,000 more than the 2019 amount before the pandemic.

Year-to-date, the city’s sales tax revenue of $6,344,774 is 15% higher than last year’s record pace, thanks to a normal level of revenue in January and record for February, March, April and May.

The city’s 0.5 cent security sales tax closely mirrors the 1% sales tax. Both taxes are 15% ahead of the previous year, with $3,126,558 in the security sales tax account, despite June being 6.8% lower than last year at 566,960 $. The 2022 amount is $140,000 higher than the pre-2021 record month of June 2019.

The 0.5-cent transportation sales tax for June of $567,206 is also down 6.8% from the 2021 record, but remains the second highest monthly revenue for June in the history of Branson, about $66,000 higher than the pre-2021 high in June 2016. The $3,137,352 raised in 2022 is 15.2% ahead of last year’s record pace.

The city’s tourist tax is down 7% for May compared to 2021, which is calculated on the month’s tax receipts received by the city, meaning May revenue is based on April sales. (Revenue amounts also include any additional payments from a company refunding taxes.)

May revenues of $1,098,010 are still the second highest in city history for the month. It’s the only time in Branson’s history other than 2021 that May’s revenue topped $1 million.

Record resort tax revenue of $1,697,086 in January, more than $500,000 more than the previous record in 2021, plus record revenue in February and April kept the resort tax 14.5% compared to the record amount of 2021.

Branson Mayor Larry Milton said he was looking at revenue numbers realistically because the pandemic created statistical anomalies in 2020 and 2021.

“Our benchmark should be the 2019 numbers,” Milton told Branson Tri-Lakes News. “Hopefully we fall between the 2019 and 2021 numbers. The last normal year was 2019, and we have some pretty big hurdles to try to match the second half of 2021, when most of the huge revenue increases have taken place. Continuing to exceed or match the 2021 numbers is going to be a task.”

In 2021, sales tax revenue over the past six months had five months with amounts over $1 million, with September generating over $2 million, for the first time in city history. . The city’s revenue ended the year with more than two million dollars over any previous year.