Sales Tax Receipts Inch Up

Texas sales tax receipts in May totaled $1.78 billion, up 0.1% from May 2009.

Comptroller Susan Combs said the increase, although slight, is the second month in a row that revenue exceeded the previous year’s totals after 14 straight months of decline.

May sales tax collections from retail trade, oil and gas, and restaurant activity outpaced those of May 2009. However, remittances from construction and manufacturing fell below last year, according to Combs.

“While overall economic conditions and sales tax revenues appear to be stabilizing, there remains a risk of further deterioration before a sustained recovery is underway,” she said.

The comptrollers office distributed $437.3 million in sales tax revenue to local governments, down almost 1% from last June’s allocation.

Last week’s distribution reflected taxes collected in May from sales that occurred in April.

Texas cities received $292.6 million in sales tax revenue, down 1.5% from last June. Total city allocations in the first six months of 2010 are 4% less than the first six months of 2009.

Texas counties received sales tax payments of $26.7 million, up 1% compared to last June.

So far this year, sales tax allocations to counties are down 7.9% compared to 2009.

A total of 10 local transit systems will receive $99.2 million in sales tax allocations.

The 169 special taxing districts in Texas received $18.6 million in sales tax allocations, up 8.7% from June 2009.

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