By LEW K. COHN, Inquirer Publisher
The city of Gonzales brought in its highest sales tax allocation since 2020 in March – a good sign that the local economy has almost fully recovered from the impact of COVID-19.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that he will transfer $913.3 million in local sales tax allocations to cities, counties, transit systems and special tax districts for March, up 19.8 percent from March 2021.
These allocations are based on sales made in January by companies reporting monthly taxes. This month is usually one of the busiest months for sales as it is the month immediately following the holiday season.
For the month of March 2022, Gonzales County communities received a total of $261,119.32 in sales tax appropriations, an increase of $40,558.84, or 18.39 percent, from the $220,560.48 received in March 2021 24.61 percent of the $714,906.46 received at this time last year.
Sales tax allocations for Gonzales, the largest city in the county that generates the lion’s share of sales tax revenue, totaled $227,002.50 — up $40,954.01, or 22.01 percent, from $186,048.49 , which were taken last March. The amount is just $9,741.65 below the $236,744.15 received in March 2020, when COVID-19 began to force businesses to close and implement mandates to combat the pandemic.
For the year, Gonzales received $773,535.25, an increase of $166,375.9, or 27.4 percent, from the $607,159.35 the city received at this time last year.
Sales tax revenue for Nixon decreased $3,022.18, or 11.01 percent, from $27,425.52 allocated in March 2021 to $24,403.34 allocated for this month. For the year, sales tax allocations are up $7,114.16, or $8.61, with Nixon receiving $89,657.77 for the three months of 2022 compared to $82,543.61 for the same period last year.
Waelder reported sales tax revenue of $6,685.55 this month, an increase of $1,492.88, or 28.74 percent, from the allocation of $5,192.67 last March. It’s the highest sales tax the city has ever received for the month of March and the 12th best month ever for the city.
For the year, the sales tax allocation remains up 18.87 percent, or $3,089.25, from $16,370.67 received in the first three months of 2021 to $19,459.92 received in the same period of this year .
Finally, Smiley’s sales tax revenue for the month was $3,027.93, an increase of $1,134.13, or 59.88 percent, from last March’s allotment of $1,893.80 — the largest percentage increase for each parish in Gonzales County.
For the year, sales tax allocations are down 7.09 percent from $8,206.32 at this time last year to $8,832.83 this year.
Two Gonzales County cities — Gonzales and Nixon — collect a 1.5 percent sales tax rate, while Smiley and Waelder collect a 1 percent sales tax.
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