St. Mary Parish sales and use tax collections rose by nearly $300,000 in October because of one-time use payments. Parish officials say St. Mary shouldn’t expect a drastic increase in economic activity any time soon but should instead focus on slow, steady growth. October collections totaled $3.19 million, a 10 percent increase in collections from the $2.9 million collected in October 2016. Officials collected $14,222 as a result of financial audits in October compared to the $156,497 collected from audits in the same month of 2016. Excluding collections made from audits, collections rose 15.8 percent. “The increases that we enjoyed ...