Small Gain in August Narrow’s Sales Tax Gap for La Grange

August’s sales tax rebate for La Grange ticked up from the same month a year ago, but not quite enough to pull it out of the hole for the year.

The city treasury got $231,656 this month, up 4.2% from last August’s payment. That makes the 2024 total to date $1,792,693, which is a little less than 2% below last year’s eight-month total.

Five of Fayette County’s seven towns saw increases for August. Ellinger and Fayetteville were both slightly down for the month.

Two towns among nearby cities have seen huge sales tax growth this year. Hempstead, in nearby Waller County, has more than doubled last year’s revenue. So far in 2024, Hempstead is up 120.1%. Shiner, in Lavaca County, has almost doubled, at 91.7%. The reason for Shiner’s growth, however, is that previously it had a 1% city sales tax rate that was increased last October to 2%, effectively doubling its revenue.

The region’s two largest trade centers, Bastrop and Brenham, are seeing moderate growth this year. Bastrop, with $8.4 million so far, is up 2.3%. Brenham, with $5.1 million, is up 4.6%.

The Record tracks nine area counties for sales tax revenues. Of them, six are up for the year while three are down.

Fayette County has received $2.1 million so far this year, down 4.0% from the same eight months of 2023. Washington County is down 4.2% and Burleson County down 8.5%. The biggest gainer is Lee County, up 28.8%. Giddings, its county seat, is only up 5.4%, indicating much of the growth has been in rural areas outside the city limits.

The local sales tax is optional for counties, but all have a rate of one-half percent on applicable sales anywhere in the county.

Cities for the most part have a rate of 1.5% but some, such as Ellinger, , are only 1% while others, like Shiner and Hempstead, are at 2%.

Local Sales Tax Revenues

First Eight Months of Year (Jan.-August)

Fayette County Cities

Pct. Change Tax Rate 2024 2023 2022 2021 2023 to ’24 La Grange 1.50% 1,792,693 1,827,921 1,671,560 1,480,420 Down 1.9% Schulenburg 1.50% 899,066 1,011,200 840,175 633,256 Down 11.0% Round Top 1.50% 320,598 310,977 261,493 225,734 Up 3.1% Flatonia 1.50% 313,523 311,099 287,288 266,789 Up 0.7% Carmine 1.50% 111,428 96,650 102,745 86,628 Up 15.2% Fayetteville 1.50% 84,185 162,002 82,602 78,550 Down 48.0% Ellinger 1.00% 46,184 44,845 41,858 0 Up 2.9%

Other Area Cities

Bastrop 1.50% 8,394,499 8,204,318 7,514,413 6,491,549 Up 2.3% Brenham 1.50% 6,679,215 6,381,981 6,031,147 5,120,803 Up 4.6% Hempstead 2.00% 3,535,779 1,606,301 1,570,549 1,343,912 Up 120.1% Lockhart 1.50% 2,982,555 2,700,799 2,393,249 2,122,761 Up 10.4% Elgin 1.50% 2,710,760 2,553,016 2,352,959 1,966,805 Up 6.1% Sealy 1.50% 2,337,442 2,291,242 2,082,592 1,886,410 Up 2.0% Gonzales 1.50% 2,062,481 2,155,316 2,101,526 1,671,277 Down 4.3% Giddings 1.50% 1,990,439 1,887,584 1,655,770 1,269,751 Up 5.4% Caldwell 1.50% 1,480,094 1,485,860 1,389,643 1,121,286 Down 0.3% Columbus 1.50% 1,429,704 1,415,971 1,277,902 1,152,686 Up 0.9% Luling 1.50% 1,398,518 1,415,126 1,279,215 1,024,103 Down 1.1% Yoakum 2.00% 1,381,711 1,340,594 1,229,864 1,085,970 Up 3.0% Hallettsville 2.00% 973,716 989,949 968,965 939,195 Down 1.6% Bellville 1.50% 768,109 757,255 699,126 605,201 Up 1.4% Shiner 2.00% 744,762 388,468 355,440 250,385 Up 91.7% Smithville 1.50% 600,435 588,318 611,075 506,584 Up 2.0% Weimar 1.50% 562,156 662,267 625,110 534,403 Down 15.1% Eagle Lake 1.00% 279,568 286,480 264,742 256,224 Down 2.4%

County Governments

Bastrop 0.50% 5,856,127 5,589,042 5,245,413 4,171,175 Up 5.1% Washington 0.50% 3,082,029 3,219,626 2,832,912 2,295,279 Down 4.2% Caldwell 0.50% 2,435,474 2,239,502 1,901,846 1,737,831 Up 8.77% Fayette 0.50% 2,141,308 2,230,712 2,009,495 1,507,289 Down 4.0% Gonzales 0.50% 2,098,304 1,765,848 1,480,156 1,223,889 Up 18.8% Colorado 0.50% 1,849,971 1,464,058 1,307,928 1,116,749 Up 26.3% Austin 0.50% 1,628,296 1,568,964 1,512,750 1,363,170 Up 3.7% Lee 0.50% 1,391,678 1,080,450 1,010,701 883,591 Up 28.8% Burleson 0.50% 990,231 1,082,494 1,024,968 753,336 Down 8.5%

Source: State Comptroller’s Office