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Sales tax receipts for Burnet and Bertram continue to set the pace for the rest of the county, according to figures released last week by the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
Sales tax receipts for Burnet and Bertram continue to set the pace for the rest of the county, according to figures released last week by the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
Allocations for all but one Burnet County municipality increased by double-digit percentages in August as continued widespread relaxing of social distancing requirements in Texas in June led to a large increase in retail spending.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday, Aug. 12, he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $908.7 million in local sales tax allocations for August, 3.6 percent more than in August 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in June by businesses that report tax monthly and on sales made in April, May and June by quarterly filers.
“Widespread social distancing requirements were more relaxed across the state in June than in previous months,” Hegar said.
In August 2020, Burnet County municipalities received a combined $1,553,092.76 in sales tax revenues, an increase of nearly 21.9 percent, or $278,526.08, above the $1,274,566.68 received during August 2019. Overall in Burnet County for the year, sales tax revenues are at $9,972,660.42, up 3.91 percent or $375,557.55 from the $9,597,102.87 received during the same time period last year.
Burnet had sales tax receipts for August 2020 go up 20.33 percent from $226,941.72 in August 2019 to $273,087.25 this month. For the year, sales tax revenue is up 10.53 percent above last year, from $1,641,592.33 at this point in 2019 to $1,814,485.68 through this year.
The greatest percentage jump in sales tax receipts for the month of August came from Bertram, which has now recorded back-to-back months of percentage increases of greater than 48 percent.
July 2020 saw a 51.95 percent increase and now August 2020 saw a 48.49 percent increase from $29,121.11 in August 2019 to $43,244.41 this month, which bests their previous all-time-high collection of $40,094.40 this past February.
For the year, Bertram maintains the highest percentage sales tax growth at 31.46 percent, from $195,363.70 through this point in 2019 to $256,834.27 through eight months of 2020.
Sales tax allocations for Marble Falls climbed more than 22.44 percent for August 2020 to $1,009.661.09 — the first time allocations for the city have ever eclipsed the $1 million mark. They were up more than $185,091.10 above the $824,569.99 received in August 2019. Sales tax receipts make up the lion’s share of general fund revenues for the county’s largest city.
For the year (January through August), Marble Falls has received $6,596,126.32, up 3.96 percent from the $6,335,760.83 received during the same period last year.
Sales tax receipts for Horseshoe Bay were up 15.4 percent in August 2020, just a month after being down 38.35 percent overall. The city, which straddles the Burnet and Llano county line, received $158,803.76 for August 2020, compared to the $137,601.85 received in August 2019.
The turnabout in allocations comes at a time when business typically picks up on Lake LBJ for the summer. For the year, sales tax revenues in HSB are still down 15.30 percent, from $1,067,509.48 in 2019 to $904,083.52 this year — a difference of just under $163,500 from last year’s receipts.
Granite Shoals saw sales tax revenues rise by 32.98 percent from $34,515.78 in August 2019 to $45,899.72 this August. For the year, sales tax revenues are up a stellar 21.01 percent, from $225,606.27 to $273,016.11.
Cottonwood Shores saw an increase of 2.65 percent in August 2020, up from $21,816.23 last year to $22,396.53. For the year, sales tax revenues are up 4.45 percent from $131,270.26 in 2019 to $137,114.52 through the same point this year.
Three cities in Burnet County — Marble Falls, Burnet and Granite Shoals — collect the maximum allowable sales tax rate of two percent, while Bertram and Horseshoe Bay collect 1.75 percent and Cottonwood Shores collects 1.5 percent.
