The first sales tax allocation of 2018 shows McAllen with its second straight strong monthly showing.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced McAllen’s take for November was 4.82 percent above November 2016.
The monthly allocations are based on sales made in November by businesses that report tax monthly. While not a complete economic picture of a municipality, the numbers give an indication of the health of a city’s retail sector.
Figures show that in October McAllen showed a gain of 3.18 percent.
The city was down for the year in 2017 by 2.48 percent.
Elsewhere, Pharr was up 14.04 percent for the month, Edinburg was up 8.49 percent and Weslaco was up 0.18 percent. Among the county’s largest cities, only Mercedes (down 10.03 percent) posted negative numbers compared to November 2016.
Harlingen posted an increase of 4.80 for the latest period and in 2017 finished up 6.42 percent for the entire year. Analysts say a 2 percent increase year-over-year is a sign of a healthy local economy.
Statewide, taxing districts were allocated $709.2 million in local sales tax allocations for sales made last November. This is 9.5 percent higher than a year ago.
In Cameron County, much like the state, most cities showed a strong first month in the 2018 allocations, with San Benito up 3.05 percent, Brownsville up 3.64 percent, La Feria up 6.97 percent and Los Fresnos up 4.81 percent.
South Padre Island showed a small 0.27 percent gain, while Rio Hondo (down 3.16 percent) and Port Isabel (down 1.18 percent) were the only bigger cities to post negative numbers.
In Starr County, Rio Grande City was up 1.98 percent while Roma was down 2.41 percent.
