City of Orange sees whopping jump in sales

Orange County plus the cities of Orange, West Orange, and Vidor are showing increases in sales tax collections for the month of June, according to information from the Texas Comptroller's Office.

The city of Orange was listed with a whopping nearly 80 percent increase in sales taxes with $1.11 million collected for sales during the month, compared to $632,405 in collected in 2022. That puts the city up 27.14 percent for the year to date with $6.41 million compared to $5.04 million for the year to date last year. The city has a 1.5 percent tax rate.

However, Orange city officials in the past have pointed out that sometimes, huge jumps in the sales tax income may be a mistake in the Texas Comptroller's Office. Orange, Pinehurst, and West Orange have the same 77630 zip codes. Sometimes, businesses in Pinehurst and West Orange have had their sales taxes attributed to Orange, instead.

If a mix-up is discovered and verified, the city of Orange reimburses the comptroller's office, which then sends the month to the appropriate city.

Another factor, though, in Orange's big increase could be from the number of new businesses opening within the city limits. The Orange City Council and City Economic Development Corporation collects its own half-cent per dollar sales tax, which has a limited use by state law. The two groups have been giving grants to a number of new businesses during the past few years. New businesses create addition sales taxes.

West Orange, though, showed a strong increase for June. The city has a 1.25 percent sales tax. For June, the city collected $143,506, a 28 percent increase from $115,157 collected for June last year. The city has a year to date collection of $993,443, an increase of 8.23 percent from the $917,853 last year.

Orange County is up 31.48 percent for the month of June sales with $911,544 collected, compared to $693,274 for June last year. For the year to date, the county is up a healthy 12.47 percent with $5.45 million compared to $4.84 million for the same period in 2022. The county has a 0.5 percent sales tax.

Pinehurst, though, is down in both categories. The city received $56,440 for June, down 10.8 percent from the $63,277 collected for June 2022. The city is down 2.24 percent for the year to date with a total of $441,757 compared to $451,896 last year. The city has a 1.5 percent sales tax.

Vidor was up this year with $381,918 for June, an increase of 9.47 from $348,857 in June last year. The city is up 4.45 percent for the year to date with $2.47 million compared to $2.37 million last year. The city has a 1.5 percent sales tax.

Emergency Services District No. 3 for the Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department is the only special district in the county with a sales tax. The district has a rate of 1.5 percent for sales. The ESD collected $19,793 for June this year compared to $32,436 in June 2022. However, the district is still up in income for the year to date with $204,844 compared to $19,847 last year.