It has been a good year for Texas, as sales tax collection state-wide has increased over last year’s numbers.

The month of November shows an average increase of 5.58 percent over the prior year, and the overall 2018 sales tax collection to date is up by 7.95 percent in our state.

Looking at Texas’ the top ten cities, it is no surprise that the City of Houston claims the number one slot, bringing in 11.6 percent of sales tax collected in the state.

In fact, combined, the top ten cities contribute about a third to the sales tax collection in the State of Texas. They include, in order: San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, Arlington, El Paso, Plano, Frisco, and Round Rock.

Bringing it a bit closer to home, here is a look at sales tax collection in the neighboring cities adjoining Freestone County:

–Navarro County

Bringing in the highest sales tax collection in the area is Corsicana (pop. 23,683) with $630,354.84 collected in November. This is 10.89 percent higher than last year. The city’s sales tax to date, down by just 1.16 percent from last year, totals $5,955,714.08 for 2018.

Sales tax collections for the City of Kerens (pop. 1,531) was up by 9.76 percent for the month of November, with $15,555.61 collected in November. The city’s sales tax to date, up 10.74 percent from this time last year, is a total of $143,423.81 for 2018.

The City of Rice (pop. 973), had an increase of 48.08 percent for the month of November with a total of $14,817.11 collected over this time last year. Collected to date for 2018 is $146,118.85, which is 22.79 percent higher than last year.

Sales tax collections are down by 6.43 percent for the City of Angus (pop. 417), which collected $5,988.05 in November. Overall, the city is slightly up, by 0.07 percent, with a total of $58,649.26 collected to date in 2018.

The City of Richland (pop. 267) is down for the month of November, by 6.14 percent, and up substantially for the year to date, by 21.71 percent over this time last year. Collected was a total of $1,354.92 last month, and $17,843.89 for the year to date.

–Limestone County

The City of Mexia (pop. 7,394) is staying up this year with $228,787.68 sales tax collected in November, up 1.19 percent from last year. Collected to date in 2018 is $2,421,985.19, which is 2.83 percent higher than last year.

Sales tax collected for the City of Groesbeck (pop. 4,318) in November was down by 1.76 percent, with $63,352.05 collected in one month. Year to date totals are also down by 0.91 percent with $659,820.71 brought in so far for 2018.

The City of Coolidge (pop. 957) collected $3,205.30 in November, down by 4.26 percent over last year. Looking at the year so far, sales tax collections are up by 12.43 percent from this time last year with $25,314.10 sales tax collected.

Also down for the month of November is the City of Thornton (pop. 528), which collected $1,508.21 in November, down by 17.35 percent. Sales tax collection for the year to date is up by 1.50 percent with a total of $17,340.71 collected.

The news is positive for the City of Kosse (pop. 466), who brought in $12,236.60 during the month of November, which is up by 20.25 percent.

Overall, collections are up by 9.49 percent to date, with a total of $99,578.93 collected so far in 2018.

–Leon County

The City of Buffalo (pop. 1,892) is up by 7.43 percent for the month of November, and up 33.89 percent for the year to date for sales tax collections. A total of $114,780.82 was collected for the month; and $1,086,973.21 for the year.

Up by 8.47 percent for the month, but down by 10.22 percent for the year to date is the City of Jewett (pop. 1,211), which collected $20,344.41 in November and $185,288.08 so far in 2018.

The City of Centerville (pop. 899) remains up with $30,265.04 collected in November and $346,450.93 for the year to date. That represents an increase of 0.71 percent sales tax collections for the month, and 6.41 percent increase for the year to date.

–Anderson County

As the second largest city in the area, Palestine (pop. 18,306) is down by 9.34 percent in sales tax collection for the month of November, but up by 1.28 percent for the year to date. The city brought in $517,981.00 in November, and a total of $5,376,203.07 to date in 2018.

The City of Elkhart (pop. 1,329) went the other way with sales tax collection up 5.62 percent in November and down by 13.92 percent for the year to date. Elkhart collected a total of $15,173.81 for the month of November and $127,713.70 for the year to date.

Seeing an overall increase is the City of Frankston (pop. 1,189) with $23,420.57 collected in November and $244,303.66 for the year to date. That represents an increase of 13.86 percent for the month and 6.12 percent for the year to date.

Finally, the cities of Freestone County showed an increase in overall sales tax collection this year. Here are the numbers:

–Freestone County

The City of Teague (pop. 3,505) had an excellent November, seeing a 14.69 percent increase over last year. A total of $56,895.24 was collected that month. Looking at the year to date, Teague is showing an overall increase of 3.99 percent, bringing a total of $509,923.91 to date.

On the other hand, the City of Fairfield (pop. 2,917) showed a drop in sales tax collection for the month of November, as well as for the year to date. Fairfield brought in $174,480.41 last month, which is down by 9.43 percent over last year. To date, sales tax collections total $1,506,824.61, which is 2.75 percent below last year.

The City of Wortham (pop. 1,004) shows a drop in November sales tax collection by 5.40 percent, but increased their totals for the year by 23.20 percent. Wortham collected $15,675.50 in November and $149,443.66 for the year to date.

Showing an increase across the board is the City of Streetman (pop. 243), which collected 0.72 percent more in November over last year, and a total of 16.43 percent more to date. Streetman collected $5,020.76 for the month, and $55,423.55 for the year to date.

Source:

Sales Tax Collection information was obtained from the State Comptroller’s website at comptroller.texas.gov

City population estimates for 2017 were taken from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission website at www.tsl.texas.gov