Reports of sharp drop in Latin community business

[Hometown]

My friends in Tulsa's Latin community say that businesses that cater to Latinos have recently experienced a sharp slow down in business.  Businesses that were robust until recently have begun to cut back operations.  It will be interesting to see if these anecdotal reports are reflected in Tulsa's sales tax receipts.

[restored2x]

In your conversations - have they attributed the slow-down to any specific factor?

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

My friends in Tulsa's Latin community say that businesses that cater to Latinos have recently experienced a sharp slow down in business.  Businesses that were robust until recently have begun to cut back operations.  It will be interesting to see if these anecdotal reports are reflected in Tulsa's sales tax receipts.

It was reflected in a drop in sales tax revenue:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070722_1_A21_hCool52874

[Breadburner]

I'm sure the drop in sales tax revenue had nothing to do with the weather...

[Chicken Little]

My friends with large numbers of Hispanic/Latin customers say the same thing.  Business is way, way down.

They say that the new INS reporting for misdemeanor traffic stops has caused vast portions of the community have decided to move to friendlier cities.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that there would be economic consequences to this decision.

[Hometown]

quote:Originally posted by restored2x

In your conversations - have they attributed the slow-down to any specific factor?

The new immigration law in Oklahoma.

[waterboy]

How were sales tax figures for OKC?

They had weather too. If it hadn't rained it would have been high nineties temps and you would have said the weather too.

Jenks and Bixby having the highest drop makes me wonder. What was so special about them last year at this time?

[Breadburner]

Sorry waterboy try again......But I have plenty of frineds in various trades from Landscaping to Concrete Construction to Carwashing and Home Building.....All there buisness was way off due to weather......And guess what when you cant work you dont buy materials....Can you figure it out from there.....

[DM]

Our suburbs are growing. With that will come their sales tax growth that will continue to take away from Tulsa's sales taxes. But with projects like Tulsa Hills, Tulsa sales taxes should level out if not increase. At least thats what I hope for. Bixby has a huge retail shopping center being built. Once it opens it will be another hit to Tulsa.

[Breadburner]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

quote:Originally posted by restored2x

In your conversations - have they attributed the slow-down to any specific factor?

The new immigration law in Oklahoma.

Bull$hit.....They could not work (Due To Weather) therefore they did not have the money to spend.....

[restored2x]

Plus - if they build the Super Target in BA - the Tulsa Super Target will lose out on some business from BA shoppers (The other Super Target is close to BA but in Tulsa, right?)

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

How were sales tax figures for OKC?

They had weather too. If it hadn't rained it would have been high nineties temps and you would have said the weather too.

Jenks and Bixby having the highest drop makes me wonder. What was so special about them last year at this time?

Bixby was UP 21.8%.

Some rudimentary math (don't know how correct this is) by adding and subtracting various gains and losses shows an overall gain of 1/2% in the areas sampled.

Considering that Jenks isn't exactly a haven for Hispanics, what is the largest single attraction there?  Riverwalk Crossing.  With all the rain, many people didn't spend time kibitzing outside.

However, looking at rises in sales tax in Sand Springs (Keystone), Muskogee (Ft. Gibson/Tenkiller), Claremore (Oologah), Owasso (Oologah); one could conclude that people were heading to area lakes.  Still doesn't explain the spike in Bixby or Coweta.  Bixby might have enjoyed more revenue from the produce business considering the bumper crops that rain brought with it this year.

Anyone saying business is way off due to the immigration laws is purely anecdotal and not scientific.  People still have to eat, get cars fixed, etc.  I've not noticed a great exodus from Tulsa.

As usual, the sky is falling on Hometown.

[Hometown]

Conan, my little brother, read my post and read your post.  You are the one prone to overstatement.  You need to learn how to weigh your words.

It will take a little more time to see how recent developments are going to flesh out.

[rwarn17588]

The Bixby increase was an outlier because the city recently instituted a sales-tax increase to help pay off debts and other improvements.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

The Bixby increase was an outlier because the city recently instituted a sales-tax increase to help pay off debts and other improvements.

That's a heck of an increase to raise an additional $133K in revenue.