HARLINGEN — The city of Harlingen’s solid if unspectacular monthly sales tax gains of the past year rocketed upward for September, showing an increase of 9.98 percent.
The sales tax reimbursement from the Texas Comptroller’s Office showed the city received $1.8 million in reimbursements this September, compared to $1.6 million a year ago.
The monthly sales tax reimbursements from the state are an indicator of the strength of a city’s retail sector.
“The entire region is growing, and I think Harlingen is starting to realize some of the retail and development that we anticipated when we developed the Bass Pro,” City Manager Dan Serna said.
“Bass Pro has been a catalyst for a lot of these new developments coming in, and these are now starting to come in more frequently,” Serna added. “We realize the benefit of that, and we see a long-term benefit of that.”
Cameron County’s other larger cities also showed gains, with San Benito up 3.02 percent, Brownsville up 8.33 percent, Port Isabel up 13.36 percent and Los Fresnos up 8.52 percent.
South Padre Island continued to struggle, and was down 5.55 percent for the month and 2.04 percent for the year.
For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.
Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.
Cameron County
Harlingen — Up 9.98 percent, up 2.56 percent for year
San Benito — Up 3.02 percent, up 3.32 percent for year
Port Isabel — Up 13.36 percent, up 1.34 percent for year
Rio Hondo — Up 11.81 percent, up 18.45 percent for year
La Feria — Up 1.07 percent, up 4.89 percent for year
Los Indios — Up 32.15 percent, up 10.96 percent for year
South Padre Island — Down 5.55 percent, down 2.04 percent for year
Brownsville — Up 8.33 percent, up 2.52 percent for year
Los Fresnos — Up 8.52 percent, up 32.94 percent for year
Willacy County
Raymondville — Down 10.26 percent, down 3.94 percent for year
Lyford — Up 26.24 percent, up 11.94 percent for year
Hidalgo County
McAllen — Down 1.29 percent, down 4.04 percent for year
Pharr — Down 18.95 percent, up 2.40 percent for year
Weslaco — Up 5.66 percent, down 1.26 percent for year
Mercedes — Up 6.29 percent, down 3.41 percent for year
Edinburg — Up 1.84 percent, up 4.64 percent for year
Mission — Down 6.11 percent, down 0.50 percent for year
Source: Texas Comptroller’s Office
