Sales Tax returns for September
Hawkins sales tax down; County down 4.92%
By JOHN SPARKS

 

After two strong monthly gains sales tax returns were down a quarter of a percent in September compared with the same month last year. Businesses in the unincorporated county experienced a drop of nearly five percent for September when compared with last year’s returns.

Hawkins returns were $16,844.52 for July 2007 compared with $16,887.44 in the same month last year. Year-to date figures for Hawkins have continued an upward trend with a 10.64 percent increase through the first nine months. The unincorporated county tax collections are also ahead for the year by 8.07 percent.

September returns for sales taxes represent those charged by merchants on sales made during July. The figures were released last week by the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
 

The sales tax funds are collected by local merchants, sent to the Texas Comptroller along with the state’s six and-a-quarter cents tax on each dollar of retail purchase. Hawkins’ local portion—one-and-one-half cents/dollar—is then returned two months later (July collections returned in September). Merchants in the unincorporated county areas collect a half-cent sales tax on each dollar sale.
 

The $16,844.52 in local sales taxes collected by merchants in Hawkins during July has been distributed to the two budgets supported by the sales tax, with approximately $11,229.68 deposited into the city’s general fund and the remaining $5.614.84, representing a half-cent sales tax, into the HCDC.
 

Comparative figures for sales tax returns for the month of September (as collected in July) for each city and the county follow with commentary furnished by Gary McKinley, executive director of the Wood County Industrial Commission: