MCALLEN, RGV – The Rio Grande Valley continues to do well in sales tax revenues, Matt Ruszczak reports.
Ruszczak, executive director of South Texas Economic Council, crunches the numbers each month to see if sales tax revenues are up or down, compared to the same time last year. He gets the numbers from the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
The latest report focuses on sales tax revenues for June, 2019. Year-to-date, only three small communities in the Valley are performing worse than last year. Every other community is doing better. The Valley as a whole is up 7.67 percent, year-to-date, compared to the same period last year, while Texas as a whole is only up 4.19 percent over the same period.
“These are highly impressive numbers,” Ruszczak reported.
El Paso County’s sales tax revenues are up 4.87 percent compared to the same period last year. Maverick County’s sales tax revenues are up 4.43 percent compared to the same period last year. Val Verde County’s sales tax revenues are up 12.38 percent compared to the same period last year.
Looking at individual cities in Cameron County for the month of June, Brownsville’s sales tax revenues were up 9.41 percent, Harlingen’s were up 5.31 percent, Port Isabel’s were up 8.85 percent, San Benito’s were up 8.39 percent, and South Padre Island’s were up 9.34 percent.
Looking at individual cities in Hidalgo County for the month of June, Edinburg’s sales tax revenues were up 9.78 percent, McAllen’s were up 5.69 percent, Mercedes’ are up 19.69 percent, Mission’s were up 6.77 percent, Pharr’s were up 15.64 percent, and Weslaco’s were up 8.93 percent.
In Willacy County, Raymondville’s sales tax revenues were up 3.48 percent in June. And in Starr County, Rio Grande City’s sales tax revenues are up 7.22 percent in June.
Editor’s Note: Click on the podcast link above to listen to the full report from Matt Ruszczak, executive director of South Texas Economic Council.
Editor’s Note: The main image accompanying the above news story and podcast shows the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets in Mercedes, Texas.
