Rio Grande Valley cities sales tax revenue spike

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Year-to-date and September sales tax revenue figures show strong jumps for six Mid-Valley cities compared with the same reporting period in 2011, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office.

Weslaco’s year-to-date sales tax revenues rose by about 7.6 percent from $7.5 million this time in 2011 to $8.1 million in 2012.

Mercedes brought in the second highest year-to-date sales tax revenue amount in the Mid-Valley with $5.2 million. That number is up about 4.3 percent from roughly $5 million by this time in 2011.

In Donna, a 5.83 percent year-to-date increase shows a slight rise from about $1.29 million last year to about $1.22 million this year. The city, however, saw a 32.8 percent increase from $104,459 in the September 2011 reporting period to $138,812 in 2012.

Edcouch year-to-date sales increased 12.6 percent from $128,536 to $144,755, according to Nancy Sanchez, the city’s finance director. Edcouch also saw a 15.3 percent increase to $16,349 from $14,180 for the same period last year.

Neighboring Elsa, meanwhile, saw the highest jump in percentages for the month of September among Mid-Valley cities with about 37 percent — $43,786 in 2011 to $59,992 in 2012.

The small city also jumped from about $532,000 to roughly $560,000 in year-to-date revenue for a 5.2 percent increase over 2011.

Progreso saw a roughly 17 percent rise in sales tax revenue for September 2012 and about a 7.6 percent increase in year-to-date revenue.