PROVIDENCE – The 1 percent meal and beverage tax collections for April 2017 climbed 5.1 percent year over year, an increase of $102,717 to $2.1 million, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue.
And while fiscal year-to-date collections increased 1.8 percent through April to $21.3 million, collections viewed on a month-to-month basis declined from March 2017 by 7.4 percent.
Warwick collections saw the largest nominal and percentage increases in the meal and beverage tax from April 2016, with a $136,349 increase year over year to $279,317, itself a 95.4 percent uptick.
Warren, on the other hand, reported the largest nominal and percentage decrease in Rhode Island in April year over year, declining $74,621 from April 2016 to $22,615, a 76.7 percent drop.
Providence collected the largest amount of the tax in April, $468,244, which represented a 2 percent increase over a year earlier. Through the first 10 months of fiscal 2017, the Capital City had collected $4.4 million of the 1 percent meal and beverage tax, a year-over-year increase of 1.7 percent.
The largest nominal increase through April on a year-to-date basis was recorded in Warwick, with the city collecting $2.3 million in the tax, a year-over-year gain of $128,719, or 5.9 percent. The largest percentage gain year-to-date was recorded in East Greenwich, at 22 percent. Through April the city has collected $674,795 of the tax, a gain of 22 percent.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
