Round Top Racks Up New Sales Tax Record
Another month, another record, Round Top might say about its sales tax revenue.
For August, the tiny town got $27,930, more than a third again what it got in August last year. So far in 2021, Round Top has taken in just short of a quarter million dollars - $225,734, to be exact.
That’s by far the most Round Top has ever garnered in eight months, and up 57.4 percent from last year at this time.
While Round Top is the “boomingest,” all of Fayette County’s towns are up so far this year – five of the six by double digits.
La Grange is almost at $1.5 million, nearly 11 percent ahead of last year. Carmine and Fayetteville, two other towns on the “antiques corridor,” are up 25.2 and 17.8 percent respectively.
The towns of southern Fayette County also are up, but not quite so much. Flatonia has seen a 10.6 percent gain this year, while Schulenburg is up 5.1 percent.
Not all towns in the region have been so fortunate. Of the 18 other area cities tracked by the Record, five are actually down for the year.
Bastrop has had the greatest percentage gain among them, up 21.3 percent. It’s also the biggest in terms of actual dollars. In the first eight months of the year, Bastrop has taken in just shy of $6.5 million.
Brenham, Luling, Bellville, Smithville and Eagle Lake are all up by double digits, but none of them match the gains seen in Round Top, Carmine and Fayetteville.
Besides cities, Texas counties also are allowed to levy an optional local sales tax. In this area, nine counties have this tax. Five of them are running ahead of last year, while four are behind.
Fayette County has received just over $1.5 million in sales tax revenue in 2021. That’s up 6.7 percent from last year. Austin County, similar in size, is up by 6.4 percent, at $1.3 million.
The three most populous counties also have the biggest sales tax gains. Bastrop County is up 16.8 percent, Washington County up 13.5 percent and Caldwell County up 16.7 percent.
The smaller counties of Gonzales, Colorado, Lee and Burleson are all down compared to this time one year ago.