Sales tax rebates down for August

The city of Graham saw a drop in the amount of sales taxes returned to the city for August, not only compared to the previous month, but for the year so far. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced last week that taxing districts statewide are receiving $769.3 million in local sales tax allocations for August, 1.2 percent more than in August 2015. Graham, Newcastle and Olney are the only three cities in Young County that receive monthly sales tax rebates from Hegar’s office. Graham’s rebate this month, based on sales made in June by businesses that report taxes monthly, and sales made in April, May and June by quarterly filers, was $216,805, down 7.15 percent from the $223,506 rebate during the same month last year. In addition, the city’s year-to-date rebates total $1.53 million, down 6.36 percent from the same period last year. Olney’s rebate this month was down 4.9 percent from a year ago, to $27,178, but year-to-date, that city’s total has risen from about $198,000 to $204,000. Newcastle, which has a higher sales tax rate than last year, is up considerably, by 37.5 percent this month, to $7,243, and 16.14 percent year-to-date, to $42,0712. The totals for the three Young County towns come to $251,227, down 6 percent from last year. Year-to-date totals are also down, by 4.89 percent, to $1.778 million. “The cities of San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano and Irving saw noticeable increases in sales tax allocations,” Hegar said. “Energy-centric cities, such as Houston and Midland, continue to see decreases in sales tax allocations.”