Positive sales tax trend continues for Graham, some area cities

Young County and the cities of Graham and Olney will be receiving higher sales tax allocations from September with higher year-to-date payments overall.

Since the beginning of 2018, the city of Graham has seen increases which exceeded their year-to date budget, starting with 0.49% increase in January 2018 and continuing with a 14.21% increase in September 2019.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $849.6 million in local sales tax allocations in November, 4% more than in November 2018.

These allocations are based on sales made in September by businesses which report taxes monthly. It should be noted, sales taxes do not make up the bulk of city or county revenues.

Graham’s rebate this month from their 1.5% rate is $253,699.09, up 14.21% compared to the $222,127.06 rebate received during the same month last year. So far this year, the city’s rebates are up 8.61%, to $2,354,063.13, compared to $2,167,348.94 received at this time last year.

Olney’s rebate this month from their 1.5% rate was up 30.85% to $36,609.46, compared to the $27,976.75 received during the same month last year. So far this year, Olney’s rebates are up 7.06%, to $308,938.92, compared to $288,556.43 received at this time last year.

Newcastle is showing a decrease from their 1.5% sales tax rate of 4.9% to $4,752.06, compared to the $4,997.39 collected during the same month last year. So far this year, Newcastle’s rebates are up 4.69%, to $56,784.53, compared to $54,239.82 received at this time last year.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Nov. 13 edition of The Graham Leader.