Schulenburg Has County’s Greatest Sales Tax Growth

Three months into 2022, Schulenburg is setting the pace for economic growth in Fayette County, as reflected by city sales tax revenue.

So far this year, the county’s second city has collected over a quarter million dollars from local retail sales, up nearly 30% from last year’s level.

Much of that gain came with this month’s rebate from State Comptroller Glenn Hegar. Schulenburg got $97,569 for March alone, which was nearly double the $51,548 it got last March.

Schulenburg’s 29.8% year-to-date increase is the highest of any town in Fayette County. La Grange is next, with 14.3% growth. The county seat got $632,868 in the first three months of the year.

All last year, it was the “antiques trail” towns that led the way in sales tax growth. But so far this year, they’ve been relatively moribund.

Round Top is up only 2.8%, Fayetteville is up 1.7% and Carmine is down 10.0% for the first quarter.

The county’s newest city, Ellinger, has collected $16,483 so far this year. Flatonia is about in the middle of the group, with a 7.6% growth.

The region as a whole has seen a strong rebound during this year of “near normal” after the Covid pandemic. All nine area counties that levy the optional local sales tax have double-digit gains for 2022, with most of the in the 25% range.

Fayette County has collected just shy of $700,000 in the first three months. That’s up 26.6% from the same period last year.

Burleson County had the biggest gain, 30.9%, but that’s still lower than what it collected in the same period two years ago. Washington County was next, with a 28.9% gain. Lee County is up just 10.5%.

Lee County is up just 10.5%. But like Burleson, its 2022 revenue is below the same period two years ago.

Of the 18 towns outside Fayette County tracked by the Record, 16 have had double-digit gains this year. Tiny Shiner has gained the most, up 47.4% from a year earlier. Caldwell also has grown greatly, up 37.9% from 2021 numbers.

All 18 of them topped the $100,000 mark, the first time that’s ever happened for the first quarter of the year.

Payments to the local governments, made by the State Comptroller’s office, represent taxes paid on sales made during January and reported to the state by businesses during February. Total rebates to counties were up 20.9% year to date and to cities, up 19.3%.