August sales tax figures drop
August proved itself to be a tough month for Van Zandt County cities when it comes to sales tax revenue figures, with only one city bucking the downward trend according to the office of Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Canton was the exception to the rule for the month of August, receiving $14,349.37 more than the $310,948.54 collected for the same calendar month in 2015.
After posting the largest percentage gain for any city in the county in July, the city of Edom went the complete opposite direction by posting a 20.88 percent drop down to $2,295.61 for the month of August.
Edgewood, which received a payment of $30,303.05 in August 2015, saw a drop of 6.98 percent by receiving $28,188.79 for this month.
Van, which had been the top gainer in the county for both June and July, cooled off in August by seeing it’s figures drop $5,753.15 to $81,042.98 for the month.
Figures from the comptroller’s office show Wills Point received $94,754 for the month, down 10.72 percent over the $106,136.27 collected for the same calendar month in 2015.
Grand Saline finished the month with the largest dollar drop and second largest percentage change of any county city, receiving a payment of $55,206.34 for the month. That total was $11,538.08 or 17.29 percent less than the monies received in August of last year.
As a whole, county cities were down a combined $17,044.07 over last year’s figures for the month.
For the year, Canton, up $111,624.65 in year-to-date figures, Van, up $55,361.60 in year-to-date figures, Grand Saline, up $3,779.76 in year-to-date figures, and Edom, up $429.18 in year-to-date figures, are all currently ahead of their 2015 pace through eight months.
Wills Point and Edgewood are both currently behind their previous year’s pace, with Wills Point showing a drop of $12,588.52 in year-to-date figures and Edgewood showing a county worst $20,355.18 in year-to-date figures.
Through the first eight months of 2016, Van Zandt County cities are currently up a combined $138,251.49, or 3.45 percent.
In a press release announcing the August figures, Hegar stated that his office would send, “cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $769.3 million in local sales tax allocations for August, 1.2 percent more than in August 2015. These allocations are based on sales made in June by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in April, May and June by quarterly filers.
“The cities of San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano and Irving saw noticeable increases in sales tax allocations. Energy-centric cities, such as Houston and Midland, continue to see decreases in sales tax allocations.”
