Final sales tax report shows revenues still falling

Final figures are in and the City of Austin’s sales tax collections fell 9.5 percent for FY 2009 compared to last year, according to Austin’s Chief Financial Officer Leslie Browder.

 

“Overall, the Austin/San Marcos MSA was down 9.2 percent this month. Round Rock was down by 16.5 percent for the month, and down 10.8 percent year-to-date,” Browder said in an email to city officials.

 

That means the conservative financial estimates presented in April and July were on target when they predicted an overall 10 percent decline.

 

Browder says the city received $12.4 million this month compared to $13.6 million for the same month last year. That’s a decrease of 8.7 percent for September, the last month of the fiscal year.

“Of the top 20 Texas cities, 19 cities saw declining sales tax revenue this month. All other major Texas cities experienced declines this past month,” Browder said, noting that Fort Worth, which received 12.6 percent less than last year saw the most significant decrease, followed by Dallas with –11.6 percent.

Houston was down 4.8 percent and San Antonio lost 7.3 percent, she said. 

 

Capital Metro, which relies heavily on sales tax collections, also saw collections   down by 9.5 percent for the month.

 

Collections for Sunset Valley and Bee Cave were both down 10.8 percent this month compared to last year, Browder said.