County sees increase in sales as Orange city goes down

The city of Orange is continuing to see a big drop in sales tax income as most of the other entities in the county are seeing healthy sales at their businesses.

The Texas Comptroller's Office has sent payments to the cities, Orange County, and one special district in the county for their shares of sales tax receipts in May.

Orange County, which has a 0.5 percent sales tax, or half-cent per dollar, had a 29.8 percent increase in sales tax returns for the month and is up 10.91 percent for the year to date. For May, the county collected $873,966 in sales taxes, compared to $673,310 for May 2023. For the first seven months of 2024, the county has collected a total of $5.03 million, compared to $4.53 million for the same period last year.

Orange is down 28.93 percent for the month, and 20.15 percent for the first seven months of the current calendar year. The city has a 1.5 percent sales tax, or 1.5 penny per dollar. The city received $583,150 for May, compared to $820,633 for May last year. The city is now at $4.23 million for the first seven months this year, compared to $5.3 million for the same time last year.

Bridge City, which also has a 1.5 percent sales tax, has a 2.71 percent increase for this May, compared to May last year, and is up almost 11 percent in payments for the year to date. The city collected $177,771 for May, up from $173,100 last May,and is at $1.43 million for the first seven months of 2024, compared to $1.294 million last year.

West Orange has a 1.5 percent sales tax and collected $150,245 for May, up 32.37 percent form $113,502 for May last year. For the year to date, the city is up 10.14 percent with $931,732 this year, and $845,938 last year.

Pinehurst also has a 1.5 percent sales tax and is up for the year to date, even with a slight decrease for the month. The city collected$55,286 for the month, down 4.13 percent from the $57,668 collected in May last year. The city is up 9.15 percent for the first seven months of 2024 with $420,580 this year, compared to $385,317 last year.

Vidor collected $338,503 for May this year, up 15.92 percent from May last year. The city has a 1.5 percent sales tax and is now at $2.19 million for the first seven months, an increase of 4.79 percent from the $2.09 million collected for the same period last year.

The Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department, or Orange County Emergency Services District No. 2, is the only special district in the county with a sales tax. The district, with a 1.5 percent sales tax, collected $25,100 for May and is now at $186,111 for the year to date.