City sales tax revenues tumble in March

Clarendon’s sales tax revenue plummeted when Texas Comptroller distributed May allocations to local government’s last week.

The city’s revenue fell 25.97 percent to $41,893.01 compared to $56,593.42 for the same period last year. Local officials point out, however, that the 2019 May allocation was unusually high, setting an all-time record for monthly sales tax revenue.

This month’s allocation is just 5.44 percent lower than 2018’s May allocation of $44,303.94 and is higher than 2017’s May allocation of $37,304.42.

Clarendon’s calendar year-to-date total is now down 5.82 percent at $170,762.12.

Hedley’s May allocation fell 41.92 percent to $1,359.44, and that city’s year-to-date figure is down 5.94 percent at $4,492.94.

Howardwick was also down 1.84 percent for the month at $1,197.96, but the lakeside city remains up 22.14 percent for the year at $6,899.08.

Statewide, Hegar sent $824.1 million in local sales tax allocations for May, 5 percent less than in May 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in March by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in January, February and March by quarterly filers.

Widespread social distancing requirements were not in place across much of the state until late March, meaning the impact of those measures affected only a portion of allocations for this month.
The comptroller’s office expects next month’s allocations, based on April sales, will show steeper declines compared to a year ago.