Local Sales Growth Pushes Tax Revenue to Near Record
La Grange has topped the million-dollar mark in city sales tax revenue for the first half of 2021, the highest level in six years.
Only four times has the city passed $1 million in six months. The record was in 2015, when it hit $1,149,257 for January through June. This year it’s $1,098,679.
All six Fayette County towns that collect the optional local sales tax have increased compared to last year. Of the other 18 area towns tracked by the Record, 12 have had increases while six are down for the year.
La Grange’s rebound from the pandemic seems to be faster than most towns in the area. Of the 18 area towns outside of Fayette County, only four have had bigger percentage increases than La Grange, and three of those were small cities – Bellville, Smithville and Eagle Lake. La Grange is up 13.9% for the year while booming Bastrop is up 23.4%.
Fayette County has also passed the million-dollar mark in six months. In fact, the $1,109,907 the county has received is the most ever for the first half of the year.
Of the nine area counties tracked by the Record, five have had increases while four have dropped.
Bastrop County continues to be the biggest retail center for the area. It has collected over $3 million in six months, compared to Fayette County’s $1.1 million. Washington and Caldwell counties fall between Bastrop and Fayette in retail sales.
Round Top continues to see the biggest gains in the county. This year’s six-month total of $175,816 is up nearly 67% from a year ago.
Both Carmine and Fayetteville are up by more than 20%. All three of these towns are heavily impacted by the seasonal antiques fairs. Construction of new venues has also increased traffic in Round Top, although only those retailers actually inside the city limits collect city sales tax.
All six Fayette County towns have sales tax rates of 1.5%, with Fayette County itself collecting at a rate of 0.5%. When newly incorporated Ellinger begins collecting sales tax, its rate will be just 1.0%.
Although Schulenburg’s gain this year is only 1.8%, this is still the most sales tax revenue ever for the county’s second city. Flatonia, the third largest in the county, is up by 12.4%.
At its current pace, La Grange is on track to top $2 million for 2021. The highest annual total ever came in 2019, when the city collected $2,146,521 in local sales tax dollars.
Earlier this month, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported that state sales tax revenue in May was the highest-ever monthly total. The month’s $3.4 billion was 30.1% more than in May 2020, Hegar said.
“Resurgent consumer spending drove monthly state sales tax collections to a new high,” Hegar said. “Supported by the end of pandemic restrictions, further vaccination progress and declines in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, continued recovery in employment, and federal stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits, receipts from all retail sectors other than grocery stores surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
“Sales at retailers that had benefited from pandemic spending – online and big box general merchandisers, building materials and home furnishings stores, sporting goods and hobby stores – continued at elevated levels, while sales at retailers severely depressed last year, such as clothing stores and electronics and appliance stores, rebounded sharply from last spring.
“Spending at restaurants also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with increased dine-in patronage adding to still elevated take-out and delivery business.”