Posted 11:45 pm Thursday, August 16, 2012
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Tyler sales tax receipts show uptick
By JACQUE HILBURN-SIMMONS
jsimmons@tylerpaper.com
Tyler sales tax figures deposited for August reflect a 2.05 percent uptick compared to one year ago and represent a 2.20 percent cumulative year-to-date increase, according to the Texas Comptroller's Office.
jsimmons@tylerpaper.com
Tyler sales tax figures deposited for August reflect a 2.05 percent uptick compared to one year ago and represent a 2.20 percent cumulative year-to-date increase, according to the Texas Comptroller's Office.
The reported $3.2 million in revenue is comprised of $2.1 million in general sales tax revenue and $1 million in half-cent sales tax revenue.
Those figures represent receipts from June 2012 collections and reflect a two-month lag in reporting and remittance back to the city from the state, officials said.
Local officials seemed pleased with the uptick.
"Our sales tax revenues are continuing to grow at around 2 percent per month over last year's revenues," City Manager Mark McDaniel said in a statement. "We have budgeted for this level of growth through next fiscal year as we anticipate the economy to recover slowly from the recent downturn."
McDaniel said the city will continue to hold the line on expenditures and focus on maintaining service levels with fewer resources as the end of the fiscal year approaches.
At the state level, July sales tax revenue amounted to $2.5 billion, up 10.1 percent compared to a year earlier, Comptroller Susan Combs said, also in a statement.
"Business spending in the oil and natural gas industry and other sectors continues to be robust," she said. "That spending, along with increases in consumer sectors such as retail trade, continues to boost sales tax collections. State sales tax revenue has now increased for 28 consecutive months."
The state distributed sales tax allocations totaling $632.1 million to cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts. Those allocations are up 4.2 percent compared to August 2011.
In other areas, Tyler area home sales skyrocketed 15.83 percent in July, compared to a year ago. A total of 322 units sold last month, up from 278 in July 2011, according to the Greater Tyler Association of Realtors.
Those figures represent the most dramatic increase in Tyler for the month of July since 2005 when 352 homes sold. The number represents a 28 percent increase compared to 275 units sold in 2004, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University reports show.
The increase in local sales is the biggest since February when there was a 24.3 percent jump from the prior year with 225 houses sold, up from 181 units from a year earlier.
Last month's sales represented a 6.62 percent hike from the 302 homes sold in June, records show.
Also last month, Tyler sales tax revenue increased a whopping 9.34 percent compared to last July, and represent a 2.31 percent cumulative year-to-date increase -- less than needed to ease the city's soft hiring freeze.
July's $2.9 million in reported revenue was made up of about $1.8 million in general sales taxes and $948,063.83 half-cent sales tax revenue.
At the state level, sales tax revenue was $1.98 billion, up 15.2 percent compared to June 2011, with about $534.6 million in sales tax allocations distributed to taxing entities.
July's state allocations were up 12.7 percent compared to July 2011.
Tyler's June deposits amounted to $2.6 million, a .42 percent decrease compared to the prior year, and a 1.61 percent increase compared to the prior fiscal year-to-date totals, figures show.
June's reported revenue was comprised of $1.7 million in general sales taxes and $874,589 in sales tax revenue.
State officials reported state sales tax revenue of $2.09 billion, up 7.3 percent compared to a year earlier, a figure that represents 26 consecutive months of growth.
State officials sent $514.1 million in allocations to taxing entities, a number that was up 9.7 percent compared to the prior year.
Business editor Casey Murphy contributed to this report.
