Sales Tax Holding Steady For Most Towns in Area

Despite the effects of COVID-19, most towns in or near Fayette County are holding relatively steady in their revenue from sales taxes.

Nine months into the unprecedented year of 2020, three Fayette County towns are up a little while the other three are down a little. The changes are nothing like those experienced by the stock market – or politics.

The month of September – reflecting sales merchants made in July and reported to the state in August – saw five of the six towns get smaller checks than the same month one year ago. But for the year to date, Carmine is up 11.8 percent, Schulenburg up 6.9 percent, and Flatonia up 2.3 percent.

La Grange, on the other hand, is down 7.3 percent for the year, Fayetteville is down 7.5 percent and Round Top is down 7.6 percent.

Despite the drops from 2019, virtually every town in the area is up compared to this time two years ago. Of the 24 towns tracked by the Record, 22 have received more sales tax revenue in 2020 than at the same point in 2018.

Of the nine area counties that levy the optional local sales tax, five are ahead for the year, while four are behind.

Several oddities stand out in this month’s report from State Comptroller Glenn Hegar though. Elgin, for example, got $223,346 this month, compared to only $81,656 in September 2019. That shot its year-to-date total to just over $2 million, up 32.1 percent from this time last year.

The state does not release individual taxpayer data, so exactly what caused the huge payment isn’t known. Often, however, such anomalies are one-time adjustments made to correct a previous error.

Something similar is happening in Lee County, where sales tax revenue is up 112.2 percent from last year – more than an extra $1 million for the county. Rather than a trend, however, it’s the result of a large one-time bump. For the month of September alone, Lee County’s rebate check was down more than 20 percent from last year.

Similarly, Colorado County is up just under 40 percent for the year – nearly half a million dollars. But it’s September check also was down from last year.

With over $1.5 million in sales tax so far, La Grange is on pace to hit $2 million total for 2020, despite the effects of COVID closures.

It hit $2 million for the first time in 2013 and repeated the mark in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

Known for creating conservative budgets, however, La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn proposed holding sales tax revenue projections for the coming year at about the same level as the previous year.

The city’s adopted budget for 2020-21 projects about $2,040,000 in sales tax revenue, compared to about $2,042,000 in sales tax for 2019-20. The city’s fiscal year is Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 20, 2021.