NATCHEZ — After months of fretting over the economy, it seems things are turning around in Natchez.

Sales tax revenue for the month of February is up 8.59 percent since last February.

All told, the city brought in $403,084 in sales tax revenue this February.

City Clerk Donnie Holloway said he was surprised to see such a high increase.

“I was very elated to see that it was up that much,” City Clerk Donnie Holloway said.

He said he expected a continual drop in sales tax revenue after December revenue dropped 3.58 percent, and January revenue was down 1.98 percent.

He said expected a drop in revenue for the first several months of the year, which are pegged as slow tourism months.

The increase is indicative of an increase in local shopping, he said.

“It’s showing that people are spending a lot more money in town,” he said.

Indeed, Katie McCarstle, owner of Katie’s Ladies, said she had increased revenue for February and March.

“I’ve been very pleased with business,” she said.

And Darby Short, owner of Darby’s, said her sales were up in February, too.

“It was very welcomed,” Short said.

Both shop owners had different ideas as to why their revenue increased.

“I think that people have finally decided that shopping at home is more important,” McCarstle said. “And I think that because of the economy being as bad as it is, people aren’t traveling as much and they’d rather shop at home.”

Short said she hopes it’s because people are beginning to worry less about the economy.

“Our hopes is that it’s a turn in people’s feelings on the economy in general,” she said.

After four months of increased revenue — 9.9 percent in August, 8.3 percent in September, 7 percent in October and 9 percent in November — having a sudden drop alarmed city officials.

City officials began discussing budget cuts and layoffs, and even enacted a hiring freeze for city employees as the economy stagnated and tax revenues continued to drop.

Earlier this month, city officials requested that each department head try to make between a 2 and 5 percent cut in their budgets.

Holloway said the revised budgets have been turned into him by the department heads, and they will be reviewed by the board of aldermen as part of the budget’s six-month review.

He said earlier this month the budget discussions and cuts would weigh heavily on the city’s sales tax revenue performance.

And while Holloway said the revenue increase is good, the city needs to stay its course in trying to trim back the budget and stay within its means.

“We’re not out of the woods,” he said. “It’s still wise to talk about where we are, what we’ve got, because the economy — there’s still a lot of uncertainty out there.”

The board of aldermen will have a work session at 4 p.m. April 22, and Holloway said he hopes budget discussions will begin.

The report was posted on Tuesday, as the revenue is posted two months after the fact.