Brick and mortar stores, Sears, Macys, K-Mart and others have closed stores in Tulsa. This is happening as more-and-more shopping is done on-line rather than in stores.
Tulsa Finance Director Mike Kier says it is something he sees first hand when he looks at sales tax revenue figures. Many on-line merchants are not collecting the sales tax and customers are not reporting purchases as a "use tax".
A decade ago, on-line shopping accounted for less than three percent of sales tax. Today, the number is closer to 10%,
On-Line’s Amazon has started collecting Oklahoma sales tax and Kier says that does help, but he is quick to point out there are still plenty of on-line retailers that do not.