Local sales tax rebates down

By Lynsi Musselman

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that the state sales tax revenue for Texas totaled $2.67 billion in June, 6.5 percent less than in June 2019.

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $36,935 from the state this July. The amount is up 7.42 percent from the $34,382 payment received this time last year.

Payments to date for the 2020 year to the city of Albany are $272,378, down by 18.44 percent from the comparable time last year, when payments of $333,971 had been made.

The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,470 this period for a 22.69 percent increase from the $1,198 received in July 2019.

Payments to date for the 2020 year to the city of Moran are $13,010.51, up 32.26 percent from the comparable time in 2019 when payments of $8,638 had been made.

Over the entire state of Texas, tax allocations are down 1.12 percent from the July 2019 net payment.

“The decline in state sale tax collections was driven principally by steep drops in remittances from oil and gas related sectors,” Hegar said. “Collection from the construction and amusement service sectors were also sharply down.”

 Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in June 2020 was down 9.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

“While collections from restaurants were depressed, the extent of the decline was checked by increased takeout and delivery sales,” Hegar said. “Retail sales likely also were boosted by increased alcoholic beverage sales at package, grocery, and convenience stores. That is because this category of spending shifted from restaurant and barn on-premise consumption, subject to mixed beverage taxes, to purchase for at-home consumption subject to sales tax.”