LG Sales Tax Tops Half Million Dollars

More than half a million sales tax dollars have rolled into La Grange’s city treasury so far this year – the first time ever for so much money in just two months.

The city’s rebate for February was $290,729 – up 22.6% from last February’s rebate.

That brought the total so far this year to $518,061, which is 13.5% higher than the same period a year ago.

So far the region’s economy look strong. Of the 25 area cities tracked by the Record, only two are down from last year. One of those, Schulenburg, is down 3.9% this year, and Columbus is down 1.3%.

On the other hand, Fayetteville and Round Top are up dramatically.

Fayetteville’s rebate for February was four times what it got last February. Because information on individual taxpayers is confidential, it isn’t know why there was such a jump. It may, however, be that some unpaid taxes got caught up. All during 2024, Fayetteville ran behind the 2023 numbers. With this February’s receipts, the town has more than caught up.

For the two-month period, Fayetteville is up a whopping 156.3%. Its $54,241 so far this year compares to just $21,160 last year. Round Top has received $88,384 so far this year, up 30.6% from last year. Of all the 25 towns tracked, Round Top and Fayetteville have the biggest increases.

Seven towns in Fayette County levy the optional local sales tax, as also does Fayette County itself. Eight of the nine area counties that levy the tax are up this year, with only Gonzalez County running behind last year’s numbers.

Fayette County, however, has the smallest increase of the eight with gains. Fayette has received $605,446 through February, up 7.9% from the same period last year. That does, however, put its taxable sales total well ahead of Austin County’s $542,580 and Gonzales County’s $451,922. Counties with higher taxable sales are Bastrop, Washington and Caldwell.

Sales tax receipts are generally considered strong indicators of overall economic activity in their communities.

Bastrop and Caldwell have shown particularly high growth in recent year as housing developers have built large subdivisions in them due to expensive housing prices in the Austin area.

The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau says Bastrop County’s population in 2023 topped 100,000 for the first time, estimating it at 102,370. That compares to only 86,839 in 2020.

The 2020 Census put Fayette County’s population at 24,435.