Revs Make It 12 in a Row

State tax revenue in March of $1.6 billion was an increase of almost 10% from March 2010 totals, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said last week.

“State sales tax revenue has now increased for 12 straight months,” Combs said. “Strong consumer and business spending helped increase revenue in large sectors of the economy such as retail, manufacturing and the oil and gas ­industry.”

The state will distribute $417.6 million of March sales tax revenues to cities, counties, and other local government entities. The monthly allocation is up 6% from March 2010.

Local sales tax allocations in 2011 are up 7.5% from the first three months of 2010, Combs said. Cities will receive a total of $279.4 million, up 5.2% from March 2010. Allocations to 1,144 cities in 2011 are up 6.7% from 2010.

Houston will receive an allocation of $35 million, up from $32.4 million in March 2010. San Antonio will receive $15 million, up from $14.4 million. Dallas’ $14.6 million allocation is up from $13.8 million in March 2010. The 123 Texas counties with a local sales tax will share $26.6 million, up 11% from March 2010.

Ten local transit districts will receive $93.7 million, up 5.7% from a year ago.

The Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority will receive $36.9 million, with $27.5 million for Dallas Area Rapid Transit and $10.2 million for Capital Area Metro, also known as Austin MTA. In addition, 173 special-purpose taxing districts are getting $17.7 million in sales tax revenue, up 12.8 % from 2010.

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