Burnet County cities stay strong in sales tax growth
Burnet County continues to see strong gains in sales tax rebates, as almost every city has experienced an increase of more than eight percent above last year's rebate revenue, with one exception.
Marble Falls, Burnet, Granite Shoals, Cottonwood Shores and Horseshoe Bay all have seen a significant jump in sales tax allocations as the percentage exceeds that for cities in the state, as Texas cities received $439.8 million in July 2017, or eight percent more revenue than in July 2016, and are up 3.2 percent overall for the year.
Those allocations are based on sales made in May by businesses that report tax monthly, according to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Marble Falls, once again, leads the way in sales tax collections for Burnet County. Marble Falls received $691,618.66 in sales tax allocations in July, up 7.08 percent over July 2016's total of $645,831.61. For the year, Marble Falls has received $4,956,376.41, up 10.51 percent from the $4,484,863.09 received in 2016.
Burnet was second in sales tax allocations in July with $176,477.17 received, up 9.6 percent from $161,005.31 received in July 2016. For the year, Burnet has received $1,317,821.35, up 8.63 percent from the $1,213,067.72 received in the same time frame last year.
Three other cities — Horseshoe Bay, Granite Shoals and Cottonwood Shores — have seen their sales tax revenues jump by as much as 26 percent to nearly 47 percent.
Horseshoe Bay received $100,969.02 from the state in July, up 26.08 percent from the $80,079.41 received in July 2016. For the year, Horseshoe Bay is up 12.86 percent to $605,301.60 after receiving $536,322.87 by this point in 2016.
Granite Shoals' revenues are up 28.59 percent from $21,565.84 in July 2016 to $27,732.84 in July 2017. For the year, the city has the largest percentage increase in the county, up 25.5 percent from $138,718.69 to $174,099.33.
Cottonwood Shores saw the largest percentage jump in July with 46.79 percent more sales tax collections than July 2016, going from $14,332.31 to $21,039.26, thanks to an increase in business along FM 2147. For the year, Cottonwood Shores is up 17.69 percent from $85,811.69 at this point last year to 101,000.23 since January.
The lone Burnet County city to see a decrease was Bertram, which dropped just $184.16, or 1.04 percent, from $17,571.79 in July 2016 to $17,387.63 last month. The city is down 8.36 percent with $124,866.53 collected in 2017 versus $136,265.61 collected by this time in 2016.
July collections show increase
Hegar said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.56 billion in July, 7.9 percent more than in July 2016.
“Sales tax receipts from all major economic sectors were up compared to last year,” Hegar said. “The most notable increases were from oil- and gas-related industries, as spending on well development continues to rebound. Despite the recent uptick, sales tax revenue remains in line with recent estimates from my office.”
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in July 2017 is up 7.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax revenue is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 56 percent of all tax collections. Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes, motor fuel taxes and oil and natural gas production taxes also are large revenue sources for the state.
