Sales taxes show January was sluggish in Orange County

Sales across Orange County were sluggish in January with only slight increases for a few of the entities that have a sales tax, based on payments sent by the Texas Comptroller's Office.

The county and the city of West Orange were the only two entities that collected gains from January last year and for the year-to-date payments, which begin counting with money paid in January. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported the inflation rate for January was 6 percent.

Orange County has a 0.5 percent sales tax rate and collected $555,318 for January, an 11.07 percent increase from $499,933 for January 2022. The county has now received $1.91 million so far this year, an increase of 4.51 percent from the same period last year.

West Orange has a sales tax of 1.25 percent. For January sales, the city received $107,900, compared to $95,485 for January 2022, an increase of 13 percent. The city now has a year to date total of $374,590, a 3.83 percent increase from the $360,780 at the same time last year.

Bridge City has a 1.5 percent sales tax. The city received $162,400 for January sales, up 5.53 percent from the $153,880 last year. The city now has $550,411 for the year to date, a slight decrease of 1.19 percent from $587,417 for the same period last year.

The city of Orange has a 1.5 percent sales tax and received $568,367 for January, down 6.47 percent from the $607,720 for January 2022. The city, though, is slightly up for the year to date with $2.07 million so far this year compared to $1.93 million last year, an increase of 4.38 percent.

Pinehurst has a 1.5 percent sales tax. For January sales, the city received $46,420, compared to $44,830 for January 2022, an increase of 3.54 percent. The city is stagnant for the year to date with $165,840 so far, compared to $166,710 last year, a decrease of half a percent.

Vidor was down slightly for the month and the year to date. The city has a 1.5 percent sales tax. For January, the city collected $252,673, compared to $259,998 for January last year, a decrease of 2.81 percent. The city is down 2.73 percent for the year to date with $875,900 this year, compared to $900,562 last year.

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 district charges a 1.5 percent sales tax and collected $19,655 for January and is now at $83,980 for the year to date.