Gonzales sees modest increase in sales tax allocations

The city of Gonzales’ first sales tax allocation check for 2023 was modestly more than last year at this same time, according to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office.

Hegar announced he will send Texas cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts $1.07 billion in local sales tax allocations for January, 7.6 percent more than in January 2022.

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

For the month of January 2023, Gonzales County municipalities received a combined $307,948.23 in sales tax allocations, up $6,796.78 or nearly 2.6 percent more than the $301,151.45 received during January 2022. That amount was down $53,373.25 from the combined $361,220.48 received by municipalities in Gonzales County last month.

Sales tax allocations for Gonzales, the largest city in the county which generates the lion’s share of sales tax revenue, were $264,442.35, up $3,717.95, or 1.42 percent, from the $260,724.40 received in January 2022.

In December 2022, the city had received a record-high $318,120.09 — the first time the amount has exceeded $300,000 in any month, as a successful Come and Take It and an increase in oil patch and construction work helped push sales tax collections to new heights.

Sales tax receipts for Nixon were $31,187.56, down $356.54, or 1.13 percent, from the $31,544.10 received during January 2022. The amount was just $178.02 less than the $31,365.58 the city received in December 2022.

Waelder received a total of $9,864.44 in January 2023, the fourth-best month ever for the city, eclipsing last month’s total of $9,104.43. This is also $3,494.80, or 54.86 percent, more than the $6,369.64 Waelder received in January 2022. The city’s best month ever was in June 2019, when it received $12,260.87, while in October 2022, the city received $11,234.05.

Finally, Smiley’s sales tax receipts were $2,453.88, down $59.43 or 2.36 percent from the $2,513.31 received in January 2022 and down $176.50 from the $2,630.38 the city received in December 2022.

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.