Comptroller sends June sales tax allocations

Sales tax revenue for the City of Clarendon is better than normal but down when compared to last year’s economic high.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs distributed sales tax allocations for the month of June last week, and Clarendon posted revenue of $32,143.34, a drop of 9.61 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Last year’s economic indicators, however, were sharply above normal with an influx of pipeline workers to Donley County, which sent 2013 sales tax receipts for this period soaring 41.76 percent above the level of the same month in 2012. When compared to two years ago, this month’s sales tax revenue is an increase of 28.14 percent.

For the calendar year-to-date, Clarendon has received sales tax revenue of $193,307, reflecting a 0.52 percent decrease over last year’s $194,329.54 at this point but a 23.38 percent increase over the $156,680.37 collected by this time in 2012.

Hedley also was down this month compared to last year but is still up for the year so far. That city collected $310.32 for the month, a decrease of 22.36 percent from one year ago but an increase of 4.02 percent compared to 2012. Hedley is at $3,886.78 for the year-to-date, up 8.97 percent.

Howardwick is down sharply this month with sales tax revenue of $973.81, down 45.23 percent compared to last year and down 0.33 percent compared to 2012. Howardwick is down for the year 12.34 percent at $6,853.41.

The sales tax figures distributed to cities in June represent monthly sales made in April.

April marked the first full month of alcoholic beverage sales in Clarendon restaurants since Donley County voters approved such sales last November. Package sales began in February, and the first restaurant sales began March 18.

Statewide, Combs distributed $622 Million in monthly sales tax revenue to local governments and said that state sales tax revenue in May was $2.45 billion, up 8.5 percent compared to May 2013.

“Sales tax growth was evident across all major economic sectors,” Combs said.

“The growth was led by the retail and wholesale trade sectors, the oil and natural gas mining sector, and the services sector. This marks the 50th consecutive month of increased state sales tax revenues, and brings the fiscal year-to-date growth to 5.4 percent.”