Area Cities Feel Pinch Of Decreased Spending

“All good things must come to an end,” it’s said, and that seems to be true for the long run of sales tax increases for area cities.

With the receipt of February payments from the state, La Grange is in the red compared to last year – barely. Two months into the new year, La Grange has received $456,410 in local sales tax money so far. That’s about $1,400 less than this point last year, or a dip of 0.3%.

Similarly, Schulenburg is down for the year. Its $228,898 in sales tax revenue is 5.7% below last year’s figure. And Round Top’s $67,659 is down 13.2% from last year at this time.

Flatonia is up, but only by 0.2%. Carmine is up 8.9%, but the $21,160 total is a bit less than the same two-month period in 2021. Ellinger is up 12.6%, but its total is less than the same two-month period in 2022. Fayetteville is up an astonishing 85.4%, but that’s because last year’s revenue was astonishingly low. The 2024 figure is less than Fayetteville’s 2022 or 2021 revenue.

All in all, the Fayette County towns are running just about even with last year – four up and three down. And the results are similar throughout the region.

Of the 18 other towns tracked by the Record, 13 are up and 5 are down.

Among them, Shiner outshines the rest. Sales tax revenue for the town best known for beer is more than double last year’s take. This year’s 201,055 is up 116.9% from last year’s $92,660.

Much like the stock market, most area towns posted record highs in 2023. Now they are struggling to keep consumers spending at that level. Most cities have a 1.5% tax on retail sales, though a few have lower rates.

Nine area counties also levy the optional local retail sales tax. Of them, five have increases and four have decreases through February.

Gonzales County is the stand-out among them. So far this year, Gonzales County, which was the heart of the boom brought by oil and gas in the Eagle Ford shale region a few years ago, has received $767,683 in sales tax this year. The same time last year it had $471,696, or an increase of 62.7%.

Fayette County has taken in more than half a million dollars already, but that’s down 3.3% from last year. Washington County is down 1.3%, Lee down 0.4% and Burleson down 18.5%.

Statewide, payments to cities were up 0.6% in February and payments to counties down 1.1%.