February sales tax numbers plummet for all Gonzales County cities

February 2024 will go down as one of the worst months for sales tax allocations in quite some time as all four Gonzales County municipalities saw double-digit percentage decreases below what they received last February, according to information released by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

That can only mean that sales in Gonzales County were ho-ho-horrible for the Christmas season since February’s allocation is primarily based upon taxable sales made during the month of December.

Hegar announced he sent cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts $1.3 billion in local sales tax allocations for February, 1.6 percent more than in February 2023.

These allocations are based on sales made in December by businesses that report tax monthly; October, November and December sales by quarterly filers; and 2023 sales by businesses that report tax annually.

February 2024 sales tax allocations for all Gonzales County municipalities were a combined $301,278.26, down $53,567.38 below the $354,845.64 received in February 2023. They also paled in comparison to the $318,163.90 the municipalities received just last month, which was based on November sales. For the year, municipalities have received $619,442.16, or $43,351.71 less than the $662,793.87 received at this point last year.

This came after the year had begun on a positive note with all four cities seeing increases in sales tax allocations above last year’s amounts and shows what a difference a month can make when it comes to taxes.

Sales tax allocations for February 2024 for Gonzales, the largest city in the county which generates the lion’s share of sales tax revenue, were just $254,840.06, down 14.55 percent or $43,423.40, from the $298,263.46 received in February 2023. Allocations were down $16,492.09 from the $271,332.15 received just one month earlier in January and even below the $264,442.35 the city had received in January 2023.

For the year, Gonzales has received $526,172.21, down 6.49 percent or $36,533.60 from the $562,705.81 received at this same point last year.

Waelder received a total of $9,645.36, down $1,838.29 or 15.97 percent from the $11, 478.65 received in February 2023. It was also down from the $10,912.17 the city received in January 2024. For the year, Waelder has received $20,557.53, down 3.68 percent or $785.56 from the $21,343.09 received through the first two months of 2023.

Sales tax receipts for Nixon were $33,999.24, down 16.04 percent or $6,496.98 from the $40,496.22 received in February 2023. It was higher than the $31,190.75 the city received in January 2024. For the year, the city has received $65,189.99, 9.05 percent or $6,493.79 less than the $71,683.78 received through this time last year.

Finally, Smiley’s sales tax receipts were $2,793.60, 39.36 percent or $1,813.71 less than the $4,607.31 received in February 2023. It is also less than the $4,728.83 the city received in January 2024. For the year, Smiley is the only city in the black, having received $7,522.43, or 6.53 percent more than the $7,061.19 received through the first two months of 2023.

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 February 2024, the county received $557,629.99, 102.62 percent or $282,430.04 more than the $275,199.65 received in February 2023. For the year, the county has received $767,683.03, 62.74 percent more than the $471,696.83 received through this point last year.