NATCHEZ — Sales tax collections for the City of Natchez increased by approximately $148,000 for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, following a six-year, upward trend.

Total tax sales collections from October 2014 through September 2015 are $5,730,773.

Collections from 2013-2014 were $5,583,028.

Collections for September 2015, which represent sales tax from July because collections are reported two months after the fact, show a 3.3-percent increase from the same month last year.

Collections got off to a strong start for the fiscal year, which began in Oct. 2014, with a 12.4-percent increase compared to the 2013-2014 collections for the same month.

Natchez Convention Center director Walter Tipton attributed this year’s collections increase to successful yearly programs like the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration and a strong showing at conferences hosted at the convention center.

“I know that in January and February we started off strong as compared to prior years,” Tipton said. “Our conferences are up, and they’ve had good participation.”

Natchez Pilgrimage Tours director Lynn Beach Smith said she couldn’t speak on pilgrimage tour numbers, but said those who attend tours often eat at local restaurants and see local sights — in effect contributing to local sales tax.

“Even though the (pilgrimage) customer doesn’t pay (sales tax), when they come into town they eat at restaurants and stay at places around town,” she said.

Months that showed decreases in sales tax collections were January, June, July and August.

Tipton said possible reasons for these dips could be the Eola Hotel’s closure in December.

“The closing of the Eola is something we are watching closely,” Tipton said. “We saw a dip in (sales tax) and I think a lot of that was the closing of the Eola.”

The Eola, located in the heart of downtown Natchez on North Pearl Street, has 131 rooms. The Eola was sold approximately 10 months ago. While the new owner says he has plans to renovate the hotel, little visible has been done to the facility which remains closed.

Tipton also said the Isle of Capri closing its Silver Street river casino could affect sales tax collections.

He said he was optimistic, however, and that the newly renovated Hotel Vue on John R. Junkin Drive might be able to recover potential losses from the casino’s closing.

“Now that the Vue has come on stream, we are seeing that they are picking up the slack,” Tipton said. “It’s not a completely perfect picture, but we are watching the pickup from the Vue and what other hotels are bringing in.”

With the city’s tricentennial year — its 300th birthday — approaching, Natchez Mayor Butch Brown said he expects collections to increase in 2016.

“I think this year being the precursor to the tricentennial has been a banner year already,” Brown said. “And next year we should see tourism revenue double.”

Brown recognized the Eola and Isle of Capri’s closures were concerning, but said he expects collections to remain on an upward trend.

Convention and Visitors Bureau director Kevin Kirby echoed Brown, and said he expects collections to remain strong through the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Friday.

“Marketing Natchez to an ever-growing audience has brought increased visitor counts and taxpayer dollars,” he said.