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Cities See Sales Tax Increases: Harlingen, San Benito Continue to Post Gains

Posted on: Friday, 24 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Matt Lynch, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Mar. 24--Revenues from sales tax receipts continue to rise for Harlingen and San Benito.

In San Benito, revenues rose 19.8 percent in February and 2.2 percent in March compared to the same months in 2005.

Monthly revenues from sales tax receipts are recorded by the state comptroller's office and are for actual sales made two months prior to the reporting date.

For example, revenues from sales tax receipts in March are from sales made in January.

San Benito's figures for the first quarter of 2006 were also on the rise compared to the first quarter of 2005. During the months of January through March 2006, combined sales tax revenues rose 10.3 percent over the same quarter in 2005.

While Harlingen did not see double-digit increases like its neighbor, the city continued to post modest increases in monthly sales tax revenues.

Revenues from sales tax jumped 4.6 percent in February and 5.3 percent in March compared to the same reporting periods in 2005.

For the yearly quarter of January through March, Harlingen's sales tax revenues increase 7.8 percent over the same quarter in 2005.

Finance Director Doil O'Steen said the increases reflect a continued modest growth for the city.

"We're a little ahead of the game. We haven't had any fiscal year that's less than the month in the previous fiscal year, which is good," he said.

"We've had five good months."

O'Steen said actual increases always closely mirror projected increases established by the city's finance department.

"It's always an estimated guess. We look at what we took in the last year, and if we're optimistic or pessimistic, we'll say we're going to take in more or less," he said. "We've always come within 3-to-4 percent of our estimate. When you expect growth, it can vary because so much of it is consumer driven. It's not as stable as looking at property tax."

As work continues on Lowe's home improvement store, O'Steen said he could not predict what impact the new retailer would have on the city's sales tax revenues. Lowe's is expected to open sometime in 2006.

"There's always a couple months of lag time, and it's hard to estimate what the impact will be overall," he said. "Any new business is good business from a sales tax standpoint."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

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Source: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas)

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