La Grange Sales Tax Setting Record Pace

All of County’s Towns Seeing Gains in 2021

With two months yet to go in 2021, La Grange is headed for a record-breaking year in sales tax revenue.

For October, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent the city $184,619 as its share of sales taxes collected in La Grange. That’s over $20,000 above what it got last October.

Consumers pay a total of 8.25 percent tax on retail purchases in La Grange. Of that, 6.25% goes to the state, 1.5% goes to the city and 0.55% goes to the county.

So far this year, La Grange has taken in more than $1.8 million in sales tax. That’s up 11.4% from the same time last year and is the most La Grange has ever received in the first 10 months of a year.

All other Fayette County towns are up for the year, too.

Six incorporated cities in Fayette County levy the optional city sales tax, and soon a seventh will. Ellinger is now incorporated and its sales tax went into effect on Oct. 1 of this year. It is likely to get its first rebate from the state in December.

Of the six towns, four are up for the year by double digits.

Round Top continues to lead the pack. Its October rebate of $19,273 was up 46.5% from the same month last year. So far in 2021, Round Top is up 54.9% - the most of any town in the area.

Nearby Carmine is also booming, with a 29.7% increase so far this year. Carmine’s October rebate put it above $105,000 for the 10 months.

Fayetteville is up 19.9% for 2021 and La Grange is up 11.4%.

In the southern part of the county, gains have been smaller. Flatonia is up 9.0% for the first 10 months of 2021, while Schulenburg is up 4.3%. That’s still better than many towns in the state.

Of the 24 area towns tracked by the Record, 13 are up by single digits and two are actually down from a year ago.

Counties also can levy a sales tax and nine in this region do so. Fayette County has collected $1.9 million in sales tax so far this year, up 9.5% from one year ago. Four of the nine counties, however, are down from this time last year.

The biggest gain was in rapidly growing Bastrop County. With over $5.2 million in sales tax revenue so far this year, Bastrop County is up 19.3% from a year ago and by far is the largest retail center for the region.

Second is Washington County, at $2.9 million, up 15.7% from a year ago.

Gonzales, Colorado, Lee and Burleson are all down, however, compared to last year’s pace.