County’s Sales Tax Revenue Up by 20%
For Cities, Round Top Is Tops
Two months into the year, sales tax growth for Fayette County continues to surge.
State Comptroller Glenn Hegar has sent $580,325 to the county treasury so far in 2023. That’s up 20.1% from the same time a year ago.
Of the nine area counties tracked by the Record, only one has increased more than Fayette. Gonzales County is up 20.7%. All but one of the nine counties is up for the year. Austin County has dipped both in January and February.
Within Fayette County, five of the seven towns that levy the optional local sales tax are up for the year. Leading the way is Round Top, up just over 50%. The tiny town has taken in $78,020 in the past two months, compared to just $51,968 the same period last year.
Schulenburg is also continuing a strong growth streak. After a huge growth of 33.8% for all of 2022, it’s up 30.7% so far in 2023.
A two-month total of $242,822 for Schulenburg compares to just $115,878 only three years ago, in 2020.
Flatonia is up 11.6% so far this year, while Carmine is up 8.8% La Grange is up a bit so far this year. With a February rebate of $245,941, La Grange is just shy of half a million dollars so far this year. It’s only up 2.6% from this time last year, but that is still the largest amount ever for the first two months of the year.
Ellinger, the county’s smallest incorporated city, is down 18.2% and Fayetteville is down 47.1% compared to last year.
Payments to towns and counties in February reflect sales made in December by businesses that report tax monthly; October, November and December sales by quarterly filers; and 2022 sales by businesses that report tax annually.
According to Hegar, February payments to cities amounted to $855.7 million, up 8.4% from last February. Counties got $80.2 million, up 14.8% from last year.
Local Sales Tax Revenues
First Two Months of Year (Jan.-Feb) Fayette County Cities
Pct. Change Tax Rate 2023 2022 2021 2020 2022 to ’ 23 La Grange 1.50% 457,839 446,207 386,171 341,336 Up 2.6% Schulenburg 1.50% 242,822 185,678 166,531 115,878 Up 30.7% Flatonia 1.50% 84,946 76,099 72,214 66,065 Up 11.6% Round Top 1.50% 78,020 51,968 52,899 45,969 Up 50.1% Carmine 1.50% 23,985 22,036 29,306 30,114 Up 8.8% Fayetteville 1.50% 11,412 21,607 22,196 17,223 Down 47.1% Ellinger 1.00% 10,421 12,753 0 0 Down 18.2% Other Area Cities 2023 2022 2021 2020 1 Yr. Change Bastrop 1.50% 2,152,214 1,994,849 1,619,217 1,483,878 Up 7.8% Brenham 1.50% 1,608,616 1,565,230 1,272,936 1,219,398 Up 2.7% Elgin 1.50% 687,061 607,243 488,453 437,775 Up 13.1% Lockhart 1.50% 675,217 618,339 537,323 498,352 Up 9.2% Sealy 1.50% 567,694 531,718 461,414 481,126 Up 6.7% Gonzales 1.50% 562,705 546,532 421,110 497,826 Up 2.9% Giddings 1.50% 478,539 429,388 323,232 370,271 Up 11.4% Hempstead 2.00% 451,913 424,528 331,345 326,864 Up 6.4% Caldwell 1.50% 384,016 396,348 273,576 361,225 Down 3.1% Columbus 1.50% 371,755 331,537 296,042 318,405 Up 12.1% Yoakum 2.00% 343,211 306,793 257,119 300,347 Up 11.8% Luling 1.50% 336,051 321,690 245,787 247,046 Up 4.4% Hallettsville 2.00% 266,245 259,253 258,688 240,054 Up 2.7% Bellville 1.50% 209,410 182,795 161,445 139,256 Up 14.5% Weimar 1.50% 162,439 152,236 133,490 124,427 Up 6.7% Smithville 1.50% 157,418 156,249 127,217 115,769 Up 0.7% Shiner 1.00% 92,660 94,037 61,677 77,794 Down 1.4% Eagle Lake 1.00% 80,946 69,273 76,164 56,192 Up 16.8%
County Governments 2023 2022 2021 2020 1 Yr. Change Bastrop 0.50% 1,455,727 1,315,050 1,021,911 931,4643 Up10.7% Washington 0.50% 825,839 739,582 561,290 548,093 Up 11.6% Fayette 0.50% 580,325 482,964 400,915 366,961 Up 20.1% Caldwell 0.50% 561,156 497,106 424,479 389,708 Up 12.8% Gonzales 0.50% 471,696 390,514 304,397 376,769 Up 20.7% Colorado 0.50% 367,500 339,649 289,799 288,460 Up 8.2% Burleson 0.50% 313,926 267,410 195,376 269,649 Up 17.4% Austin 0.50% 304,884 393,449 392,135 342,007 Down 22.5% Lee 0.50% 290,355 249,811 232,588 830,104 Up16.2%
Source: State Comptroller’s Office