Cities, Counties in Area See Sales Tax Declines
Sales tax payments to Texas towns and counties in February may indicate Santa didn’t have much of a Christmas.
February rebates normally are the biggest monthly payments of the year, since they include sales made in December, reported and paid to the state in January and then rebated to the local governments in February.
But for most towns and counties, this February’s payments were smaller than they got the same month last year. Hopes for a Christmas boom apparently busted.
Of the 25 cities tracked by the Record, 18 are down for 2026.
In Fayette County, four cities are down while three show gains from last year.
During the first two months of 2026, La Grange has received $467,689, down 6.7% from last year’s $518,061.
Flatonia is down 3.6%, Ellinger is down 9.0% and Fayetteville a whopping 55.3%.
For the most part, local governments are hoping this is just a timing problem that will resolve itself when March payments are received. It’s still concerning, however, since sales taxes represent a large portion of total revenue for cities.
Three towns in the county had gains – Schulenburg up 7.4%, Round Top up 6.5% and Carmine up 15.6%.
Two months into the year, even the biggest towns in the region are down from this time a year ago. Bastrop is down 8.5%, Brenham is down 9.2% and Lockhart is down 9.8%.
Even though payments to the city of Bastrop and to Brenham are down, payments to Bastrop County and Washington County are up compared to last year. This causes some to believe there may be flaws in the reporting process.
Five of the nine area counties that levy the optional local sales tax are up this year while four are down. The biggest gainer is Bastrop County, up 17.5% compared to last year. Lee County is up 17.0%. Washington is up 3.7% and Colorado is up 7.3% Fayette County has received just over half a million dollars so far this year - $540,824 – but that’s down 10.6% from last year. Caldwell County is down 6.1%, Gonzales County down 17.5% and Burleson County down 10.5%.
First Two Months of Year (Jan.-Feb)
Fayette County Cities
Pct. Change Tax Rate 2026 2025 2024 2023 2025 to ’ 26 La Grange 1.50% 467,689 518,061 456,410 457,839 Down 9.7% Schulenburg 1.50% 236,326 219,991 228,898 242,822 Up 7.4% Round Top 1.50% 94,139 88,384 67,659 78,020 Up 6.5% Flatonia 1.50% 93,216 96,698 85,189 84,946 Down 3.6% Carmine 1.50% 32,410 28,018 26,137 23,985 Up 15.6% Fayetteville 1.50% 24,237 54,241 21,160 11,412 Down 55.3% Ellinger 1.00% 11,763 12,934 11,743 10,421 Down 9.0%
Other Area Cities 2026 2025 2024 2023 1 Yr. Change Bastrop 1.50% 2,408,602 2,634,507 2,229,551 2,152,214 Down 8.5% Brenham 1.50% 1,864,926 2,054,207 1,794,237 1,608,616 Down 9.2% Lockhart 1.50% 897,018 995,176 787,987 675,217 Down 9.8% Elgin 1.50% 817,641 819,717 707,816 687,061 Down 0.2% Sealy 1.50% 728,811 775,218 639,748 567,694 Down 5.9% Gonzales 1.50% 573,798 575,841 526,172 562,705 Down 0.3% Giddings 1.50% 521,417 569,428 502,415 478,539 Down 8.4% Luling 1.50% 485,387 448,480 365,345 336,051 Up 8.2% Caldwell 1.50% 457,494 445,990 381,003 384,016 Up 2.5% Yoakum 2.00% 385,185 440,747 360,831 343,211 Down 12.6% Columbus 1.50% 351,033 367,304 372,368 371,755 Down 4.4%% Hallettsville 2.00% 292,227 320,025 269,204 266,245 Down 8.6% Bellville 1.50% 278,411 262,402 201,902 209,410 Up 8.1% Shiner 1.00% 210,625 212,680 201,055 92,660 Down 0.9% Smithville 1.50% 190,950 186,126 166,504 157,418 Up 2.3% Weimar 1.50% 155,823 162,596 148,108 162,439 Down 4.1% Eagle Lake 1.00% 76,376 82,427 76,415 80,946 Down 7.3% Lexington 1.50% 69,163 84,653 72,065 63,288 Down 18.3%
County Governments 2026 2025 2024 2023 1 Yr. Change Bastrop 0.50% 2,137,725 1,818,985 1,519,239 1,455,727 Up 17.5% Washington 0.50% 917,199 884,423 814,629 825,839 Up 3.7% Caldwell 0.50% 730,761 778,818 627,589 561,156 Down 6.1% Austin 0.50% 574,151 542,580 441,806 304,884 Up 5.8% Fayette 0.50% 540,824 605,446 561,012 580,325 Down 10.6% Colorado 0.50% 453,985 423,048 382,975 367,500 Up 7.3% Lee 0.50% 420,356 359,012 288,982 290,355 Up 17.0% Gonzales 0.50% 372,789 451,922 767,683 471,696 Down 17.5% Burleson 0.50% 271,182 302,969 255,623 313,926 Down 10.5%
Source: State Comptroller’s Office