Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, that state sales tax revenue reached nearly $3.85 billion in September, representing a 1.5 percent increase compared to September 2023. It’s important to note that the majority of September’s sales tax revenue is derived from sales made in August and then remitted to the agency in September.
In the City of Brownfield, the sales tax revenue for this month was $148,571.62, an 11.93% increase from $132,728.59 from the same time last year. Year-to-date, Brownfield’s revenue is up by 11.97%, from $1,234,626.75 to $1,382,470.78. Terry County also saw a slight increase in sales tax revenue, bringing in $64,237.31, a 1.46% increase from $63,309.65.
In the smaller communities of Meadow and Wellman, both had similar results for the month compared to last year, but mixed results in revenue for the year-to-date. The City of Meadow had a revenue increase of 15.04% for the month of September, bringing in $2,179.59 compared to $1,894.63. However, the year-to-date revenue is still down by -78.87% from $90,647.30 to $19,152.61. The City of Wellman also saw an increase in the month of September compared to September 2023, with a 21.17% increase from $586.31 to $710.44. Wellman’s year-to-date sales tax revenue is up by 190.90% from $5,860.51 to $17,048.80.
Hegar reported that September’s sales tax collections saw modest growth, but receipts were down in most major sectors compared to the previous year. All major sectors experienced negative growth, primarily due to reduced business spending, with the mining sector showing the largest percentage decrease. Remittances from the wholesale trade sector were below the previous year for the third time in four months.
The sales tax receipts from sectors driven primarily by consumer spending showed mixed results. Collections from the services sector exceeded their September 2023 totals, but remittances from the retail trade sector, which is the largest sector, decreased by 0.5 percent. Receipts from restaurants increased compared to a year ago, although the increase was slightly below the rate of inflation for food away from home in August.
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in September 2024 was up 0.7 percent compared with the same period a year ago, which is below the 2.5 percent annual Consumer Price Index increase reported for August and suggests that spending on taxable items is down from a year ago in real terms. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 58 percent of all tax collections.
