Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Last year Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar embarked on the Good for Texas Tour participating in town hall meetings across the state to find out what issues are important to Texans. As a follow-up to his tour the Comptroller announced today the launch of the Good for Texas Talks issues-focused interviews with influential state stakeholders.
Hegar kicks off the series by visiting with former Texas Agriculture Commissioner and current president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) Todd Staples. The two take a deep dive into the slumping price of oil and what it means for Texas economy and its industries. You can catch a video of the
Comptrollers discussion with Staples online.
State Sales Tax Revenue in January Totaled $2.5 Billion
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said today that state sales tax revenue in January totaled $2.47 billion down 4 percent compared to January 2015.
As expected reduced spending in oil and gas-related sectors resulted in a fall in total sales tax revenue" Hegar said. Collections from industries mainly driven by consumer spending including retail trade restaurants and services continued to grow as did receipts from the construction sector.
I would also note the sales tax collections in January 2015 were a record high and represented a double-digit percentage increase over January 2014 meaning this months collections are being compared to unusually high collections from a year ago."
Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in January 2016 is down 2.8 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Sales tax revenue is the largest source of funding for the state budget accounting for 56 percent of all tax collections. Motor vehicle sales and rental taxes motor fuel taxes and oil and natural gas production taxes also are large revenue streams for the state. Below are total collections from those taxes in January 2016:
- motor vehicle sales and rental taxes $380.6 million down 3.9 percent from January 2015.
- motor fuel taxes $291.6 million up 1.4 percent from January 2015.
- oil and natural gas production taxes $193.4 million down 45.1 percent from January 2015.
For details on all monthly collections visit the
Comptrollers Monthly State Revenue Watch.
Media Note: To provide greater transparency and eliminate confusion regarding state sales tax revenues and local sales tax allocations the Comptrollers office has begun providing one press release announcing state revenues and another announcing local allocations. The release detailing state sales tax revenues will be issued at the beginning of each month while the release detailing sales tax allocations to local taxing entities will continue as before. All recipients of the former single press release were automatically signed up to receive both releases.
