City’s May sales tax declines

Sales tax receipts for the City of Clarendon fell nearly six percent when Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced her office’s May tax allocations recently.

Clarendon’s sales tax revenue for the month was $21,846.84, which was down 5.86 percent from $23,207.08 for the same period last year.

For the year-to-date, the city is at an almost break-even point with total sales tax revenue of $149,029.72, which is up 0.03 percent over last year.

Hedley’s May allocation was down 10.61 percent to $328.37, but that city is running
ahead for the year-to-date with $3,509.05, an increase of 8.92 percent.

The City of Howardwick’s allocation this month was up 71.62 percent to $1,152.28, but the gain only brought the year-to-date figure up 1.38 percent to $5,876.38.

Statewide, Combs’ office collected $1.78 billion in sales tax revenue in May, a 0.1 percent increase compared to May 2009.

“Total sales tax collections have met or exceeded year ago levels for a second month in a row, following 14 months of decline,” Combs said. “This may indicate that a bottom has been reached.

“May sales tax collections from retail trade, oil and gas, and restaurant activity outpaced those of May 2009. Remittances from other sectors, however, such as construction and manufacturing, fell below last year. While overall economic conditions and sales tax revenues appear to be stabilizing, there remains a risk of further deterioration, before a sustained recovery is underway.”

Combs delivered June sales tax allocations of $292.6 million to Texas cities, down 1.5 percent compared to June 2009. So far this calendar year, city sales tax allocations are down 4 percent compared to the same time period last year.

June’s sales tax allocations represent sales that occurred in April. The Comptroller’s July sales tax allocation will be made on Monday, July 12.