Sales tax down 4.9% in Polk County cities

AUSTIN— Sales tax collections in the unincorporated areas of Polk County dropped 4.9 percent during November compared to the same period in 2010. A report issued by State Comptroller Susan Combs last week shows Polk County’s share of sales tax was $125,559.91, compared to $132,037.79 a year ago. So far this year collections have totaled $1,805,881.45, up 10.28 percent from the $1,637,459.89 distributed a year ago. Onalaska saw the biggest increase in the area, with revenue jumping to $26,507.89 from $22,773.99 in November 2010. This month’s increase puts Onalaska’s year-to-date collections up by 3.42 percent to $411,018.73, compared to $397,411.56. The City of Livingston saw a slight revenue increase — from $221,370.45 to $226,358.32 (2.25 percent). For the year, collections are up $3,082,262.90 to $2,923,528.35, an increase of 5.42 percent. The remaining cities in Polk County saw revenues drop in the November collections. Corrigan’s sales tax revenue was down by 31.16 percent to $15,008.24, down from $21,803.22 in November 2010. Collections for the year are up 5.61 percent with $272,161.11 for the year, down from $257,686.32 last year. Goodrich received $1,494.62, down 6.81 percent from last year’s November allocation of $1,603.87. Year-to-date collections are up 89.95 percent with $3,082,262.90, up from $2,923,528.35 in 2010. Seven Oaks’ revenue dropped 5.48 percent to $128.47 this month (from $135.93) in November 2010. So far this year, Seven Oaks sales tax revenue is up 2.72 percent, with $1,745.07 distributed so far this year, compared to $1,698.85 for the same period in 2010. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced last week that state sales tax revenue in November was $2.07 billion, up 12.2 percent compared to November 2010. State sales tax revenue has now increased for 20 consecutive months. “Sales tax revenue in all major economic sectors improved over a year ago,” Combs said. “While sales tax receipts associated with oil and natural gas production remains the strongest source of growth, there were strong increases from the consumer-driven sectors of retail trade and restaurants.” Combs will send December sales tax allocations totaling $478.3 million to cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts, up 9.7 percent compared to December 2010. This month’s distribution represents sales that occurred in October.