East Texas Cities Have Higher Sales Tax Revenues

The East Texas cities of Longview, Kilgore, Gilmer and others saw sales tax allocations increase by double digits, year over year. Increases as of January 2018 range from 4.9% in Marshall to close to 50% in Lakeport, according to the state comptroller’s office. In Longview, sales tax proceeds increased by 14.5% from the year before, while revenues increased 20.4% in neighboring Kilgore.

In Longview, city spokesman Shawn Hara told the Longview News-Journal the upswing started at the beginning of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2017. Previously, sales tax revenues declined because of the energy slump, he said. Meanwhile, in Kilgore, city manager Josh Selleck said, while the increase was nice, it was actually a decline. The city had experienced upwards of 30% and 40% increases at one point.

“We’re down about 40% from three years ago,” he added. “If you’re down 40%, you have to come up 67%.”

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