City sales tax figure drops seventh time

Local sales tax revenue slid again when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar made his monthly allocations to Texas cities last week.
Clarendon’s revenue dropped 2.61 percent to $41,667.64 for this month, dragging the city’s calendar year-to-date figure down 1.47 percent at $361,589.53.
Sales figures have struggled all year in Clarendon with the city seeing declines in sales tax revenue in seven of the last 11 months.
This month’s allocations are based on sales made in September by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in July, August, and September by businesses that report tax quarterly.
The City of Hedley saw its figures rise for the month from $848.92 at this time last year to $1,540.66 this month. But that city is still down 7.85 percent for the year at $6,149.42.
Howardwick’s revenue for this month dropped 11.23 percent to $12,054.95 and is now behind 3.78 percent for the year.
Statewide, Hegar said local sales taxes were up 1.2 percent for the month, but the state’s sales tax revenue fell more than five percent. Hegar said that sales tax revenue for the state in October was $2.28 billion, down 5.4 percent compared to October 2014.
“October state sales tax revenue was depressed, as expected, by declines in spending in oil and natural gas-related sectors,” Hegar said. “Other major sectors of the Texas economy, including construction, information, and services, continued to show growth in tax remittances.”