Petal city officials hope a strong holiday spending session will erase a $10,000 sales tax revenue deficit for November.

The Mississippi State Tax Commission says November 2008 brought nearly $155,000 in sales tax revenue to Petal, which is down almost $10,000 from November 2007.

Petal is just ahead of its 2007 sales tax revenue since July 1 by about $5,000 with the holiday shopping season looming.

Deborah Reynolds, Petal Chamber of Commerce president, said businesses in Petal are feeling the effects of an economic slowdown. Reynolds says October for most of the businesses in the Petal area was “really bad.”