OC sales tax figures mixed for month of June
Published 9:49 am Friday, July 3, 2015
Sales tax reports continue to improve across the state and Orange County, according to the latest figures.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in June that state sales tax revenue in May was $2.6 billion, up 5.2 percent compared to May 2014.
“This marks the 62nd consecutive month of growth in sales tax collections,” Hegar said. “Sales tax revenue growth was relatively strong, spurred by consumer spending at retail stores and restaurants. Remittances from the construction, wholesale trade and services sectors were also up significantly. Collections from the oil and gas mining sector declined, as was expected, due to the slowdown in drilling.”
Figures across the county continued to show improvement in four of the seven incorporated cities with Pinehurst, Bridge City and Orange having the decreases for the month.
Sales tax revenue in Pinehurst dropped 11.36 percent for the month and remains 8.42 percent below figures for the year-to-date.
In Bridge City, the sales tax allotment was down 5.69 percent, or more than $6,400 for the month, but the city is more than $250,000 ahead for the year.
The city of Orange had a slight dip at 2.73 percent, which was approximately $8,300 less than the same time last year. For the year-to-date, sales tax revenue is still approximately 9 percent ahead for the year-to-date over 2014.
The City of West Orange received approximately $10,000 more in revenue than it did at this time in 2014, which is a gain of 12.72 percent. For the year-to-date, the city remains 8.67 percent ahead.
Vidor continues to show modest gains on a near monthly basis and increased 6.98 percent for the month, a jump of more than $12,100. The city is 4.40 percent or approximately $53,700 ahead of 2014 sales tax figures for the year.
Pine Forest has a 22.33 percent improvement for the month and Rose City had a 51.29 percent improvement for the month, when compared to this time last year. Pine Forest and Rose City are 14.39 percent and 28.90 percent, respectively, ahead of revenue payments for the year-to-date.
Hegar will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts their June local sales tax allocations totaling $629.2 million, up 5.9 percent compared to June 2014. The sales tax figures represent monthly sales made in April by businesses that report tax monthly.