Sales Tax returns for October
Hawkins sales tax up 52%
Wood County up 4.68%
By JOHN SPARKS

 

Hawkins sales tax returns continue their erratic pace with a gain of 52.12 percent in November compared with the same month a year ago. With the boost in November sales tax revenue for the city for 2007 is ahead of the year ago pace by nearly 11 percent.

Overall year-to-year Wood County sales tax returns in the unincorporated area of the county are up by 7.15 percent after another strong month of returns for November. Sales tax returns for merchants in unincorporated areas of the county, including merchants at Holly Lake, were up by 4.68 percent in October.
 

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 (September collections returned in November). Merchants in the unincorporated county areas collect a half-cent sales tax on each dollar sale.
 

Hawkins returns were $21,968.63 for November 2007 compared with $14,440.82 in the same month last year. These funds are distributed to the two budgets supported by the sales tax, with approximately $16,645.75 deposited into the city’s general fund and the remaining $7,322.87, representing a half-cent sales tax, into the Hawkins Community Development Corporation budget.
 

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