Sales tax income rising across county for February

For the first time in several years, sales tax collections in February were up across Orange County for all entities. The cities, along with the county and Emergency Services District 3 collect sales taxes. According to payments from the Texas Comptroller's Office, the sales taxes had increased from February 2022 to February 2023, and the entities were collecting more in four payments for the year-to-date than they collected last year at the same time.

The comptroller's office sends sales tax collections for each month about six weeks after the end of the month, meaning the February returns were sent in April. The year-to-date collections are for the money sent during the first four months of January, February, March, and April.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports the country had a 6 percent increase in the rate of inflation from February 2022 to February 2023.

Bridge City has a 1.5 percent sales tax and collected $158,469 for February, up 6.89 percent from February last year. The city is now at $738,880 for the year to date, an increase of 0.43 percent rom $735,659 last year.

The city of Orange has a 1.5 percent sales tax. The February 2023 collection was $727,297, up 33.53 percent from $544,646 from last year. Orange has $2.8 million for the year to date, a 10.75 percent increase from $2.53 million last year.

Pinehurst has a 1.5 percent sales tax with the February return at $55,787, up 8.52 percent from February 2022 with $51,551. The city now has collected 1.61 percent more for the year to date with $221,627, compared to $218,114 last year.

Vidor has a 1.5 percent sales ta and collected $268,705 for February, compared to $241,551 last year, an increase of 11.24 percent. The city now has $1.44 million for the year to date, an increase of 0.21 percent from the $1.42 million last year.

West Orange has the lowest city tax rate with 1.25 percent. The city was up 10 percent for February with $112,325 compared to $102,081 for February 2022. The city is now up 5.19 percent for the year to date with $486,912 collected, compared to $467,862 for the same time last year.

Orange County has a sales tax rate of 0.5 percent. For February, the county collected $585,020, a 10.98 percent increase from $527,140 for February 2022. The county is up 5.96 percent for the year to date with collections at $2.5 million, compared to $2.35 million last year.

Orange County Emergency Services District No. 3 supports the Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department with a 1.5 percent sales tax. It is the only special district in the county with a sales tax. The district had $27,158 in returns for February and is now at $111,137 for the year to date, an increase of 29.58 percent from the $85,764 collected for the first four months of 2022.