Dateline: June 14, 2007

Tax revenue drops some in May report 

AUSTIN – Sales tax receipts in Clarendon fell less than one percent in May, but revenue for the year remains above last year’s figures, according to information released Friday by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.

City Hall received an allocation of $22,087.45 for the month, which was down 0.89 percent. Revenue for the year to date remained strong with a total of $144,774.24 collected, up 1.91 percent from the same period in 2006.

Howardwick’s sales tax revenue continued to climb, up 23.24 percent this month for an allocation of $1,140.61. That city’s year-to-date figure is now 13.45 percent ahead at $6,000.42.

Sales tax revenue in Hedley for May was down 42.77 percent to $362.19, and the year-to-date figure stands at $4,825.68, down 21.63 percent.

The state collected $1.7 billion in sales tax revenue in May.

“Growth in sales tax revenue remains healthy,” Combs said.  “Sales tax collections reflect the current healthy state of the Texas economy—notably the oil and gas, manufacturing, and retail trade sectors.”

Combs sent June sales tax allocations of $283.6 million to Texas cities, up five percent compared to June 2006.  So far this calendar year, city sales tax allocations are up seven percent compared to the same time period last year. 

State sales tax collections in May and local sales tax allocations in June represent sales that occurred in April and were reported to the Comptroller in May.