HARLINGEN — The Valley’s biggest cities all posted strong year-over-year gains in sales tax allocations from the State Comptroller’s Office, with Harlingen again leading the way for taxes collected in February.
Harlingen was up 9.77 percent over the previous February, McAllen was up 7.76 percent and Brownsville was up 6.06 percent.
While Harlingen has consistently posted positive numbers over the past two years, strong showings again by McAllen and Brownsville indicate retail sales in those cities seem to be rebounding after a long slump.
The sales tax allocations from the state are based on sales made in February by businesses which report tax monthly. They are seen by many as an indicator of a municipality’s retail economic health.
Elsewhere in Cameron County, La Feria was up 11.93 percent (up 12.17 percent for the year), South Padre Island was up 4.79 percent (up 5.19 percent for the year), Rio Hondo was up 3.71 percent (up 1.72 percent for the year), Port Isabel was up 1.90 percent (up 1.03 percent for the year), Los Fresnos was up 1.38 percent (up 5.73 percent for the year), and San Benito was up 0.40 percent (up 1.22 percent for the year.)
In Willacy County, Raymondville was up 4.15 percent (up 6.47 percent for the year) and Lyford was up 1.61 percent (up 10.71 percent for the year).
Hidalgo County showed one of its strongest months in nearly two years, with not just McAllen showing strong retail numbers, but other large cities doing so as well.
Edinburg was up 11.09 percent for the month (up 4.89 percent for the year), Pharr was up 9.28 percent (up 10.10 percent for the year) and Weslaco was up 3.33 percent (up 2.94 percent for the year).
Only Mercedes showed negative numbers for February sales tax allocations, down 3.58 percent over a year ago. For the year, Mercedes is down 4.81 percent.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced he would send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $651 million in local sales tax allocations for sales in February, 5 percent more than the previous year.
