Graham sales tax rebates down about 4 percent

The city of Graham started the new year with a drop of almost 4 percent in the amount of sales taxes returned to the city for January. That amount is consistent with the December’s drop of 3.64 percent. Overall last year, the city’s rebates were down 6.35 percent, reflecting with falling revenue in Texas areas strong in the oil and gas industry, which was stagnant in 2016. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $647.4 million in local sales tax allocations for January, 4.9 percent more than in January 2016. “The cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio continue to see significant increases in sales tax allocations,” Hegar said. “The cities of Houston and Sugar Land saw noticeable decreases in sales tax allocations.” Graham’s rebate this month, based on sales made in November by businesses that report tax monthly, was $170,579.76, down 3.95 percent from the $177,602.35 rebate during the same month last year. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.