Cattle County Festival bump causes June sales tax allocations to jump

Cattle Country Festival came to Gonzales in April. Two months later, in June, local officials now can see the huge boost it had on the economy in the form of sales tax allocation.

The city of Gonzales received the most it has ever gotten in the month of June and the third-highest monthly allocation ever, thanks in large part to the three-day music and camping festival which brought big names in country music and rock to the Come and Take it city from April 10-12.

In fact, all four municipalities in Gonzales County saw a benefit as all four reported sales tax allocation increases for June 2025, with three of the four (Gonzales, Smiley and Waelder) seeing double-digit percentage increases.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced he sent cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts $1.2 billion in local sales tax allocations for June, 6.1 percent more than in June 2024.

These allocations are based on sales made in April by businesses that report tax monthly.

Combined sales tax allocations for the month of June 2025 for all four municipalities were $356,635.51, up $44,582.28, or 14.29 percent, from the $312,053.23 received in May 2024 and up $18,107.37 from the $338,528.14 received in May.

The best-ever month for sales tax allocations in Gonzales County was earlier this year in February 2025, when the four cities received a combined $373,157.53, but that also included quarterly and annual sales tax filings in addition to businesses that file monthly because it came from December 2024 receipts.

The best month ever based on a single month of sales was December 2022, when the municipalities received a combined $361,220.48 in allocations, which was based on October 2022 sales alone. By comparison, June 2025 generated just $4,584.97 less in sales tax allocations based on April 2025 sales.

For the year, municipalities have gotten back $1,982,960.09, up $168,016.91, or 9.26 percent, above the $1,814,943.18 received through this point last year.

Texas imposes a 6.25 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Cities can charge up to 1.5 percent and counties can charge 0.5 percent for a total of 8.25 percent.

Gonzales saw a 15.94 percent increase, or $42,639.26, in sales tax allocations for June 2025 above the June 2024 allocation, which was the previous best ever for a June. The largest city in the county, which generates the lion’s share of sales tax revenue, received $310,088.07, compared to $267,448.81 last year.

The city by itself received this year just $1,965.16 less than all four cities received combined the previous year. This can certainly be attributed to Cattle Country Festival, which brought thousands of people out to hear artists like Parker McCollum, Clint Black, Nickelback, Tanya Tucker, Gretchen Wilson and more.

For the year, the city has received $1,683,950.97, up 9.54 percent or $146,7755.42 more than the $1,537,195.55 Gonzales took in during the first half of 2024.

Sales tax receipts were up for Nixon, which received $31,626.94, up just $272.72, or 0.86 percent more than the $31,354.22 received in June 2024. For the year, the city has taken in $203,673.15, equal to 3.77 percent or $7,417.30 more than the $196,255.85 Nixon took in during the first half of 2024.

Smiley’s sales tax receipts were up to $2,958.55, up $556.79 or 23.18 percent, above the $2,401.76 received in June 2024. For the year, the city has received $29,801.68, which is 45.73 percent or $9,351.81 more than the $20,449.87 received through this point last year.

Finally, Waelder received a total of $11,961.95, an increase of $1,113.51 or 10.26 percent, more than the $10,848.44 received in June 2024. For the year, the city has taken in $65,534.29, which is 7.35 percent or $4,492.38 more than the $61,041.91 the city had taken in up to this point last year.

Three cities in Gonzales County — Gonzales, Nixon and Waelder — collect a 1.5 percent sales tax rate, while Smiley collects a 1 percent sales tax.

Gonzales County itself also receives a 0.5 percent sales and use tax and for the month of June 2025, the county received $218,954.50, which is 8.84 percent or $21,232.99 less than the $240,187.49 received in June 2024.

For the year, the county has received $1,630,501.76, which is 2.65 percent or $44,408.74 less than the $1,674,910.50 the county took in during the first half of 2024.