Sales tax rebates still a little low

The city of Graham started the new year with a drop of more than 5 percent in the amount of sales taxes returned to the city for February. That amount is consistent with a pattern that began with last year’s decline in the oil and gas industry. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $858.6 million in local sales tax allocations for February, 1 percent less than in February 2016. These allocations are based on sales made in December by businesses that report tax monthly; October, November and December sales by quarterly filers; and 2016 sales by businesses that report tax annually. “The cities of Houston, Midland and San Antonio saw noticeable decreases in sales tax allocations,” Hegar said. “The cities of Round Rock, Frisco and Irving saw noticeable increases in sales tax allocations.” Graham’s rebate this month was $227,958.48, down 5.4 percent from the $240,972.35 rebate received during the same month last year. So far this year, the city’s rebates are down 4.78 percent, to $398,538.24 compared to $418,574.70 received at this time last year. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.