Orange County taxes were mixed in April

Sales across Orange County were mixed in April with some cities seeing a slight drop in sales tax revenues for the month. The Texas Comptroller's Office announced the payments this past week.

The city of Orange had the biggest overall increase in sales taxes, while Orange County also saw an increase. Bridge City had a slight drop for the month, but is still ahead for the year to date.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, the inflation rate for April was at 8.3 percent. Consumers will pay more sales taxes as prices go up. However, the state, cities, and the county do not collect sales taxes on gasoline and fuels. Those items have separate taxes.

Payments sent to the entities that collect sales taxes are:

The city of Bridge City with a 1.5 percent sales tax collected $162,478 for the month, a decrease of 1.98 percent from $165,773 collected during April 2021. The city is up a healthy 8.9 percent for the year to date with a total of $1.13 million compared to $1.04 million last year.

The city of Orange with a 1.5 percent sales tax was up 29.36 percent in sales tax receipts for April 2022. The city received $705,964 compared to $545,700 last year. The city's total for the year to date is $3.9 million, or 14.64 percent more than the $3.4 million last year.

Pinehurst has a 1.5 percent sales tax and has slight drops for the month and for the year to date. The city collected $54,350 for April, a drop of 4.62 percent from $56,983 last year. For the year to date, the city has collected $334,484 compared to $351,706 last year, a decrease of 4.61 percent.

The city of Vidor has a 1.5 percent sales tax and received $266,495 for the month of April, a decrease of 4.40 percent from $278,780 in April last year. For the year to date, the city is down slightly with $1.75 million total compared to $1.76 million last year.

West Orange with a sales tax of 1.25 percent received $110,725 for April, down 4.23 percent from April last year's $115,622. The city is up slightly for the year to date with $693,038 compared to $688,640 last year.

Orange County's sales tax rate is 0.5 percent. The county collected $566,238 for April, a 9.72 percent increase from $516,066 for April 2021. The county now has $3.57 million for the year to date, up 7.79 percent from $3.3 million last year.

Orange County Emergency Services District No. 3, the Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department, is the only special district in the county with a sales tax. The tax is 1.5 percent. The department received $23,329 for April, up from $17,200 for the month last year. The department, however, is slightly down for the year to date with $140,583 compared to $144,039 last year.