Upshur Sales Tax Revenues Increase in 2008

Countywide, 2008 tax allocations totaled $2,609,000, increasing $205,000 over 2007

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said Friday that Texas collected $1.98 billion in sales tax in November, up 4.7 percent compared to November 2007.

“For the first three months of the state’s 2009 fiscal year, state sales tax collections have continued to grow,” Combs said. “However, the increase is less than in the past three years, and collections from important sectors such as retail trade and construction have declined slightly.”

The Comptroller sent cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit systems their final sales tax allocations of 2008 — $488 million, up 9.2 percent compared to last December. Despite the economic slowdown, Combs said local governments collected $5.9 billion in sales tax this year, 6.3 percent more than in 2007.

Upshur County, as well as the cities of Big Sandy, East Mountain, Gilmer, Ore City, and Union Grove, all receive separate monthly allocations from the state.

When combined, the December allocations of $213,573.50, which comes from sales taxes collected in October of this year, grew over $23,000 from December 2007, which was $190,357.64.

For the calendar year, 2007 combined allocations were $2,404,349, increasing this year to $2,609,958. This is a healthy 8.5% increase.

Calendar Years 2008 and 2007 Allocations

Recipient	2008	2007	% Change
Big Sandy	$280,782	$261,890	7.21%
East Mountain	$23,474	$19,077	23.05%
Gilmer	$1,282,214	$1,204,491	6.45%
Ore City	$131,454	$112,058	17.31%
Union Grove	$5,752	$5,313	8.27%
Upshur County	$886,279	$801,517	10.58%
Combined	$2,609,958	$2,404,349	8.55%

Not all the news was rosy, however. Big Sandy, East Mountain and Union Grove all saw individual decreases from December of last year. Union Grove tumbled 64%.

December 2008 and 2007 Allocations

Recipient	Dec 2008	Dec 2007	% Change
Big Sandy	$23,984	$24,569	-2.38%
East Mountain	$2, 111	$2,395	-11.83%
Gilmer	$103,912	$92,936	11.81%
Ore City	$10,527	$9,759	7.87%
Union Grove	$303	$862	-64.82%
Upshur County	$72,734	$59,835	21.56%
Combined	$213,573	$190,357	12.20%