DALLAS - In his first sales
"Although moderating slightly, growth in sales tax revenues continues to be seen across all economic sectors," Hegar said. "Collections from the oil and natural-gas, construction, manufacturing, and services sectors rose, while remittances due to consumer spending in the retail trade and restaurant sectors also grew."
Hegar will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts their January local sales tax allocations totaling $618.1 million, up 7.7% compared to January 2014.
The report covers sales for the month of November and counted during December. During that period, oil and gas prices were falling from their June peak of around $106 to a price of $66 per barrel. Futures contracts on West Texas Intermediate crude closed on Jan. 7 at less than $50 per barrel, down more than 53% from the 2014 peak.
Hegar, who took office Jan. 2, is expected to provide some insight into the state's economy when he submits his revenue estimate for the remainder of the 2015 fiscal year and two-year budget that follows. The Texas fiscal year runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 30.
For the calendar year, the reported sales tax revenue was $28.05 billion, a 7.2% increase over calendar year 2013. The December revenue was slightly higher than the 2013 monthly average of $2.34 billion.
In the November report, sales tax revenues rose 10.7% to a record $2.66 billion.
Texas carries triple-A general obligation bond ratings from Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
