County's sales tax returns keep up with inflation

Orange County saw strong sales in January, leading to a 16.5 percent sales tax payment this year, compared to last year.

The state comptroller's office in March sent the sales tax payments to the entities with the monthly returns covering January. The year-to-date collections includes the amount of money sent for the calendar year.

The county has a half-cent per dollar sales tax that was approved by voters to off-set some of the property taxes. For January this year, the county gets to add $670,100 to its bank account, which is 16.5 percent more than the $555,318 for January last year.

The county for the first three months of 2024 has collected $1.98 million, compared to $1.91 million for the same period last year. That is a 3.47 percent increase, slightly above the most recent U.S. consumer price index of 3.2 percent inflation.

Pinehurst had the largest increase of the five largest cities in the county. The city collected $52,119 for January, a 12.3 percent jump from $46,418 last year. The city has a 1.5 cents per dollar sales tax and has $183,390 for the year to date, up 10.6 percent from $165,840 for the first three months of 2023.

Bridge City had slight drops in sales tax payments. The city was down 4.2 percent for January with $155,533 this year, compared to $162,398 last year. The city is now at $552,555 for the year to date, down from $580,411 last year, a decrease of 4.8 percent. The city has a 1.5 cents per dollar sales tax.

The city of Orange saw giant increases for 2023 sales compared to 2022, and now is showing decreases in returns this year. The city for January received $530,077, a drop of 6.73 percent from the $58,367 last year. The city has a sales tax of 1.5 cents per dollar and now has collected $1.675 million, down 19.14 percent from $2.07 million last year.

West Orange has a 1.25 cents per dollar sales tax and received $103,158 for January, down 4.4 percent. So far this year, the city has a total o $388,70, up 3.7 percent from $374,587 last year.

Vidor collected $255,742 for January, a 1.2 percent increase from $252,675 last year. The city has a 1.5 cents per dollar sales tax and has now collected $935,345 for the year to date, compared to $875,900 last year, an increase of 7.8 percent.

The Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department, or Orange County Emergency Services District No. 3, collected $25,500 for January and is now at $83,344 for the first three months of the year. The department has a 1.5 cents per dollar sales tax and is the only special district in the county with a sales tax.