Sales tax collections for Allen Parish continued to hold steady during April. The parish has seen increases in collections each month since late in 2020. Those associated with the collections said this is common after disasters like hurricanes due to the supplies needed in communities to rebuild after destructive weather.
In April’s collections when compared to last year during the same time periord, the collections indicated increases for several govenrment bodies. The Allen Parish Occupancy Tax and Allen Parish Tourist saw the biggest increases in collections last month. The occupancy and tourism both increased collections by 107.49 percent when compared to what the two funds collected last year in April. The Allen Parish Occupancy Tax collected $7,118.34 ($3,430.69 last year) in April. The tourist commission collected $21,355.01 ($10,292.08 last year).
The Town of Kinder and the Town of Kinder Library/Sewage fund both saw an increase of 64.66 percent. Kinder collected $80,781.80 ($49,059.41 last year). The library/sewage fund collected $24,234.57 ($14,717.92 last year).
Four funds saw an increase of 41.67 percent in their collections. Both school board funds, the police jury and sheriff’s office received more taxes last month than they did a year ago. The school board #1 and #2 collected in $711,446.07 ($502,198.26 last year). The school board #3 collected $355,713.61 ($251,097.18 last year). The police jury collected $249,000.25 ($175,768.78 last year). The sheriff’s office collected $355,713.59 ($251,097.20 last year).
In the other communities, Oakdale collected $160,306.14 ($126,775.86 last year); Elizabeth $9,861.97 ($7,179.78 last year); Oberlin $22,407.83 ($20,600.86 last year); and Reeves $4,413.73 ($4,196.22).
Remember spending locally, means tax dollars stay at home.