Vernon Parish teachers will be seeing an increase in their supplemental checks issued later this month, after school officials reported another increase in Ad Valorem sales tax collections in the parish.

During Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Vernon Parish School Board, officials announced that sales tax collections increased by eight percent over last year’s figures.

According to Assistant Superintendent Mike Kay, total collections for the past year came in at $16,521,532.35 — an increase of nearly $1.2 million over last year’s collections.  Based upon that amount, the supplemental sales tax checks issued to teachers will be in the amount of $10,170.62. Retired teachers will receive a check amounting to $453.04.
School secretaries will receive $7,810.80, while teacher aides, cooks and janitors will receive $7,361.31. Bus drivers will receive $8,294.

Kay said the checks will be processed on June 17.

The supplemental checks are paid directly from sales tax revenue collected within the parish, and show a steady rise in collections over the years. Last year, the sales tax revenue increased by 18 percent.

“This is based off the same millage that was passed back in the 1970s, and the collection has steadily gone up every year since then,” Kay said.