Dateline: May 29, 2003

Local tax rebates up 

AUSTIN – Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn today sent $380.9 million in monthly sales tax payments to Texas cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts, down 0.6 percent compared to May 2002. So far this year, local sales tax revenues are down 1.5 percent compared to the same time period in 2002.

Clarendon bucked the state trend and saw a 4.12 percent increase in its rebate for a total of $23,140.15.

Hedley’s rebate of $624.85 reflected a 8.56 percent drop, and Howardwick received a rebate of $865.84, down from $1,322.72 for the same period last year.

May’s sales tax rebates include local sales taxes collected in March by monthly sales tax filers and in January, February and March by quarterly sales tax filers, and reported to the Comptroller in April. The state’s share of sales tax reported in April was $1.1 billion, down 0.5 percent compared to a year ago.

“For the first time since the sales tax was enacted in 1961, state revenue from the sales tax is down for the tenth consecutive month. This is unprecedented,” Strayhorn said. “We are also going to have another historic unfortunate first in Texas - two consecutive years of losses in sales tax revenue.”