Dublin sales tax down for first time in 2020

Dublin sales tax collections were down in the latest sales tax report from the state comptroller’s office when comparing collections from the same period last year.

Collections in this report reflected sales made during the month of November.

This marks the first time that the collection comparisons were lower this year, with many months being markedly higher due to an increase in businesses and more reported shopping for groceries and home improvement/construction supplies in town.

Neighboring smaller town who had been experiencing similar boons also reported lower sales for the month of November.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.98 billion in November, 6.3 percent less than in November 2019.

The majority of November sales tax revenue is based on sales made in October and remitted to the agency in November.

“November state sales tax collections continued the trends of recent months, with receipts down from a year ago in all major economic sectors other than retail trade,” Hegar said. “Increased collections from retail trade reflected continued heightened spending for home improvements in response to the pandemic.

“The steepest declines were again in oil- and gasrelated sectors because well drilling and well completion remain depressed. Receipts from the information sector were also notably down due to the federal ban on sales taxation of internet access service.

“With sales tax collection responsibility for online marketplaces and remote sellers now in place for more than a year, increased collections from online vendors reflected the pandemic-accelerated market share shift from in-store to online shopping. Receipts from restaurants remained down from last year, but significantly higher than in the early days of the pandemic, as restrictions have eased on in-person dining and consumers continue to embrace pickup and delivery restaurant service.”

Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in November 2020 was down 5.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59 percent of all tax collections. While the effects of the COVIDrelated economic slowdown are less prominent than they were earlier this year, they continued to be evident in some sources of revenue in November 2020.

—Citizen staff report