Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has reported that state-wide, sales tax revenue totaled $3.4 billion in April, 2021, a record-high monthly total, and 31.4% more than in April 2020.
The five Lamb County cities received a return of $125,054.36, which is much more than the $117,527.84 they got for April 2020.
The City of Amherst received a return of $2,182.91, which is a 29.55% increase over last year’s return of $1,684.87. For the year so far, Amherst has received a total of $8,894.42, which is a 10.26% increase over the $8,066.11 it had by this time last year.
The City of Earth, received a return of $6,445.62, which is compared with last year’s return of $6,064.89—that’s a 6.27% increase. Earth has received a total of $30,210.67 so far, which is an increase of 14.68% over the $26,343.11 it had in 2020.
The City of Littlefield’s revenue for April was $90,144,62, which is a 5.02% increase from the $85,829.38 it got for April, 2020. Littlefield’s total for the year is $436,408.66, a 7.61% increase from the $405,519.09 it had in 2020.
The City of Olton’s return was $16,621.28, compared with last year’s return of $13,635.75. Olton’s total for 2021 so far is $71,874.41, which is a 16.62% more than the $61,627.21 it had at this time last year. The City of Sudan received a return of $9,659.93, which was down by-6.33% from the $10,312.03 it got for April last year. Sudan’s total for the year is $48,312.03, which is a 9.51% increase from the $44,114.89 it had by April 2020.
Over in Hockley County, the City of Anton received $2,386.64 in sales tax revenue, which is a 21.35% increase from the $1,966.74 it got the year before. Anton has received a total of $11,536.19 for the year, which is a 2.75% increase from the $11,226.86 it had by this time last year.
Year-over-year increases for most tax revenues this month and in the coming months will be among the highest in the history of the data series. This is due to base effects: year-ago revenue collections to which this year’s collections are compared were severely suppressed by the pandemic. Nonetheless, this month’s sales tax collections were notably strong; compared to April 2019, sales tax collections were up 19.2%.
The majority of April sales tax revenue is based on sales made in March and remitted to the agency in April. Because of changes in estimated revenue collections and updated Legislative Budget Board estimates of the state obligation for Foundation School Program funding, Hegar announced a revised Biennial Revenue Estimate during a virtual press conference on Microsoft Teams.
“Spurred by a number of factors, April state sales tax collections increased sharply from a year ago,” Hegar said. “Collections from all major sectors other than mining and construction rose significantly, led by receipts from restaurants and retailers.
“Part of the growth over last year is from depressed collections that began last April, especially from retail trade, restaurants, entertainment and other hospitality businesses most immediately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending this March, affecting April tax collections, was supported by widespread business reopenings and the lifting of capacity restrictions, greater consumer confidence in going out as the vaccine rollout progressed, federal stimulus checks and spending delayed from February into March due to the winter storm and power outage.
“Retail sector remittances were up across the board, with especially notable increases from clothing stores, online retailers, general merchandisers, sporting goods stores and building materials and home furnishings stores. Clothing stores were especially hard hit by the closure orders early in the pandemic and continued soft consumer demand as much of the workforce worked from home, but now appear to be rebounding strongly as consumers return to stores and those resuming office work, buy clothes again. Despite reopenings and the lifting of all capacity restrictions in March, stay-at-home behavioral trends established during the pandemic continue to support rapid growth in online shopping and elevated spending for home improvements and sporting goods.
“Tax receipts from restaurants were up significantly over the previous year’s levels, with the growth principally attributable to the restaurants geared to take-out and delivery, but some popular dine-in chains exhibited a vigorous rebound. Nonetheless, the dine-in segment continues to languish, with many establishments now permanently closed.”
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in April 2021 was up 4.5%, compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59% of all tax collections.
Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes, all of which were up sharply from a year ago due to base effects:
• Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $378 million, up 130% from April 2020 and up 27% from April 2019;
• Motor fuel taxes — $325 million, up 15% from April 2020 and up 1% from April 2019;
• Oil production tax — $334 million, up 75% from April 2020 and down 3% from April 2019;
• Natural gas production tax — $232 million, up 247% from April 2020 and up 81% from April 2019;
• Hotel occupancy tax — $51 million, up 116% from April 2020 and down 20% from April 2019; and
• Alcoholic beverage taxes — $119 million, up 110% from April 2020 and down 7% from April 2019.
For details on all monthly collections, visit the Comptroller’s Monthly State Revenue Watch. For an extensive history of tax policy developments and fees since 1972, visit the updated Sources of Revenue publication.