Muskogee’s sales tax check was down again for November, but not by as large a percentage as last month, city officials said Monday.

The November check is for $1.476 million, down 11.67 percent from the same month a year ago, said Jean Kingston, city treasurer. October’s check was down 12.33 percent, she said.

For the fiscal year to date, the city’s sales tax receipts are down 7.97 percent, she said.

The city gets about half of its revenue from sales taxes. The check received this month is for sales made in September.

“The good news is we’re not down as much as we were last month,” said City Manager Greg Buckley. “It’s less bleeding than what we had last month, but it’s still not good.”

The city will continue to monitor what it’s doing — not starting any new projects, Buckley said.

“We may be fixing the broken water pipe, but we’re not making plans to replace it,” he said.

“We’re not decreasing services or operations, but I think we’re still on track to maintain for the fiscal year,” Buckley said. “If we get another double-digit (decrease) for the next couple of months — through the holiday season — then I really think we’ll need to be taking some additional steps on what we’re doing.”

The Council has discussed perhaps not remodeling as many homes in its housing rehabilitation program and moving that use tax to the regular city budget instead, Buckley said.

Muskogee residents can help fix the declining sales tax by doing more of their shopping at home, but it may be that they’re not spending that money anyplace, Buckley said.

“I think a lot of people are holding back and kind of doing what the city is doing, watching what I’m spending and making sure I don’t get into a financial bind, knowing the uncertainty of the economy and where we are headed,” he said.

Buckley said the city can make it through this fiscal year, even with the downturns.

Next year could be a different story.

“We’re just maintaining the services that we have to save those dollars, but you can’t do that forever,” he said.

Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926 or lmcmahan@muskogeephoenix.com.