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Economic development officials expected sales tax allocations in Burnet County would see large gains in June as the county near completion of its recovery from last year’s COVID-19 economic impact — but this month’s numbers proved to be “eye-opening.”
Total sales tax allocations for Burnet County municipalities for June 2021 were $1,590,574.05 — second highest all-time to last month’s allocation of $1,785,107.82 and an increase of $422,704.64, or 36.2 percent, above the $1,167,869.41 distributed in June 2020.
What makes the amount even more impressive is that sales tax allocations for June came from just a single month of sales tax collections, while those for May’s record month were based on monthly and quarterly collections.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced he has sent cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $907.6 million in local sales tax allocations for June, 31.5 percent more than in June 2020. These allocations are based on sales made in April by businesses that report tax monthly.
Burnet had sales tax receipts for June 2021 go up 15.93 percent from $228,234.75 in June 2020 to $264,596.41 this month. For the year, sales tax revenue is up 16.46 percent above last year, from $1,290,138.79 at this point in 2020 to $1,502,592.77 through this year.
Bertram had a 30.78 percent increase overall in sales tax allocations, going from $25,226.73 in June 2020 to $32,992.40 this month.
For the year, Bertram is up 15.01 percent from $179,801.70 received in 2020 to this point to $206,797.96 received through six months of 2021.
The largest sales tax allocation, of course, was received by Marble Falls, which saw its second-highest ever total received with $1,055,375.20 — an increase of 36.81 percent above the $771,387.85 the city received in June 2020. This is the third time in the past five months the city has received more than $1 million in sales tax allocations.
For the year, Marble Falls has collected $5,633,162.93 through half a year, which is 19.7 percent or $927,242.43 more than the $4,705,920.50 collected during the same stretch in 2020. If sales tax collections continue at this rate, Marble Falls will set a new record at the end of the year with more than $11 million in allocations.
Sales tax receipts for Horseshoe Bay were up an incredible 82.07 percent in June 2021. The city, which straddles the Burnet and Llano county line, received $170,445.91, the second-highest total ever for HSB and up from the $93,611.09 received in June 2020. For the year, Horseshoe Bay has received $773,238.11 compared to the $662,577.84 received during the same period last year — an increase of 16.7 percent.
Granite Shoals saw sales tax revenues rise by 11.98 percent from $34,989.49 in June 2020 to $39,184 this June. For the year, sales tax allocations are up 13.54 percent from $187,088.03 received through this point in 2020 to $212,433.58 received up to this point this year.
Cottonwood Shores had sales tax receipts for June 2021 go up 81.24 percent, up from $14,419.50 to $26,135.31. For the year, Cottonwood Shores has received $119,537.70, up 29.20 percent above the $92,518.16 received through this point last year.
Highland Haven’s first sales tax allocations appear on the chart this month as the city received $1,844.82.
Four cities in Burnet County — Marble Falls, Burnet, Granite Shoals and Highland Haven — 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.
Hegar announced earlier this month that state sales tax revenue totaled $3.4 billion in April, a record-high monthly total and 31.4 percent more than in April 2020. The majority of April sales tax revenue is based on sales made in March and remitted to the agency in April.
“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, Hegar said.
“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 takeout 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.”
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 percent from April 2020 and up 27 percent from April 2019;
• motor fuel taxes — $325 million, up 15 percent from April 2020 and up 1 percent from April 2019;
• oil production tax — $334 million, up 75 percent from April 2020 and down 3 percent from April 2019;
• natural gas production tax — $232 million, up 247 percent from April 2020 and up 81 percent from April 2019;
• hotel occupancy tax — $51 million, up 116 percent from April 2020 and down 20 percent from April 2019; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $119 million, up 110 percent from April 2020 and down 7 percent from April 2019.
