Selma has basked in the spotlight for the majority of 2015, and the attention it has gotten has paid off.

The city’s sales tax and lodging tax revenues are ahead of last year’s at this point, and Mayor George Evans attributes that to the thousands of tourists that have visited Selma since John Legend and Common serenaded the Queen City with “Glory” on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in January.

“This year is like no other year, in my opinion, as far as people coming to Selma and visiting and touring our city,” Evans said Friday. “No other year has been like this to my knowledge. In the six years I have had here as mayor and the 15 years I have been involved with city government, I can’t compare this year to any year.”

The city has celebrated the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Selma and the 75th anniversary of the Edmund Pettus Bridge all in the same year.

Thanks to those anniversaries and the release of Selma the movie, the city is ahead of the curve for its sales tax and lodging tax revenues.

Since October, the start of the city’s fiscal year, Selma has made $7,426,816.28 in sales tax revenue and $290,377.30 in lodging tax revenue.

“I think it is because the economy has changed, and naturally, all of these events we’ve had in our city,” Evans said. “I think all of that can be contributed to our funding.”

While Selma didn’t make as much as it hoped during the week-long celebration for the 50th anniversary, Evans said the city is doing quite well.

“The revenue in terms of dollars and cents is not as high as I had hoped it would be based on the number of people we had here, but even with that, we have done better,” Evans said.

Sales tax revenue is ahead by $146,484, ad lodging tax revenue is ahead by $105,966 compared to 2014.

“We’ve had people to come all the time, but every day now … more people come to our city to visit historic places and to walk across that bridge,” Evans said.

Selma made $184,380 at this point last year in lodging tax revenue and $7,289,331 in sales tax revenue.

“I must commend the business owners for working with the city government, and not only working with them but also we have the Alabama Department of Revenue,” said Selma City Council President Corey Bowie. “It is going to take a collective effort to make sure our tax dollars are up.”

Evans said he is pleased with the numbers, but they could be better if Selma had more hotel and restaurant options.

“I just wish we had more restaurants and hotels where they could stay overnight,” Evans said. “That is how you really turn your money over. That makes a big difference.”

Sheryl Smedley, executive director of the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce said the city is having a record year.

“For the five years that I’ve been here I’ve never experienced snowbirds coming through, either passing on their way to south Alabama or going back up north for the summer, and this year we had that traction,” Smedley said. “We also had some spring breakers come through.”

She attributes the revenues being ahead of schedule thanks to the many people that visit Selma on a daily basis.

“I think the marketing efforts will continue, and the opportunities will definitely be here,” Smedley said.