(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reports that state sales tax revenue totaled $2.86 billion in December, 2020, 5% less than in December 2019.
The majority of December sales tax revenue is based on sales made in November and remitted to the agency in December.
The five Lamb County cities received a combined total of $141,826.98 in sales tax revenue for December, 2020, which is better than the $138,517.71 they received for 2019, for December.
For the year 2020, the Lamb County cities received a combined total of $1,817,218.56, which is compared with the $1,589,462.94 that was returned in 2019.
The City of Amherst’s sales tax return for this period was $1,648.20, which is a -7.31% decrease from last year’s return of $1,778.24. Amherst received a total of $24,762.03 for 2020, which is compared with the $28,079.33 it received for 2019. That’s a -11.81% decrease.
The City of Earth received a return of $8,895.23 for December, which is an 18.19% increase over last year’s $7,525.99. Earth has received a total of $88,845.79 for the year, which is compared with the $90,455.86 it received in 2019. That’s a -1.77% decrease.
Littlefield received a return of $102,759.36 for this period, which is a 1.03% increase over the 2019 return of $101,711.42. For the year, Littlefield has received a return of $1,344,970.63, which is a 12.74% increase over the $1,192.899.67 it received in 2019.
The City of Olton received $17,201.03 for this period, which is compared with the $18,079.85 it got for December, 2019. That’s a drop of-4.86%. For the year, Olton has received a total of $217,403.93, which is compared with the $186,697.47 it got last year. That’s an increase of 16.44%.
The City of Sudan received a return of $11,323.16, which is a 20.17% increase over the $9,422.21 it received for December, 2019. For the year, Sudan has received a total of $141,236.18, which is a 54.64% increase over the $91,330.61 it had at the end of2019.
Over in Hockley County, the City of Anton received a return of $2,500.01, which is a 21.76% increase over the December 2019 return of $2,053.18. Anton has received a total of $33,973.25 for the year 2020, which is a 24.07% increase over the $27,380.40 it received for 2019.
“December sales tax collections continued recent trends, with receipts from most major economic sectors significantly down from a year ago,” Hegar said. “Retail trade was the principal exception, with the strongest gains coming from online general merchandisers, building materials and home improvement stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters and sporting goods and hobby stores.
“Collections from discount retailers also were up, while collections from department stores, clothing stores and other specialty retailers generally were down. Receipts from the wholesale trade sector also were slightly up, due to strength in sales by building materials vendors. Historically low interest rates and pandemic-motivated behavior changes continue to spur a boom in single-family housing starts and home renovations.
“Receipts from restaurants, entertainment venues and personal service and tourism-related businesses continue to be depressed. Receipts from oil- and gas-related sectors also were lower year over year as drilling activity remained subdued.”
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in December 2020 was down 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. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be evident in some sources of revenue in December 2020.
Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:
Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $439 million, up 2.7% from December 2019;
Motor fuel taxes — $278 million, down 10.6% from December 2019;
Oil production tax — $197 million, down 45.5% from December 2019;
Natural gas production tax $86 million, down 25% from December 2019;
Hotel occupancy tax — $26 million, down 48.5% from December 2019; and
Alcoholic beverage taxes — $84 million, down 28.5% from December 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.