October 2015 Sales Tax Allocations for West Texas

More than $626 million in sales tax revenue was distributed to Texas’ counties, cities and transit systems this month from sales made in October. Lubbock received more than $5 million, a 6.3 percent growth from October 2014.

State Comptroller Glenn Hegar said sales tax revenue shrank by 3.3 percent from October of 2014 to $2.58 billion. Hegar explained the decrease through reduced spending in oil and gas-related enterprises.

Of other West Texas cities, Amarillo received the highest dividends at $5.73 million, a growth of 2.7 percent. Midland received $4.1 million, a decline of 25.7 percent from October of 2014. Midland’s year-over-year total is down 7.2 percent over 2014, a result of declined oil and gas exploration in the Permian Basin.

Focusing on Lubbock County, Buffalo Springs saw 50 percent growth over October of 2014 to $1,307. Buffalo Springs’ dividends have grown nearly 30 percent over 2014 so far to $15,086. Wolfforth is also experiencing more sales. They received more than $49,000 for October, a 38 percent growth, and have seen 16.8 percent growth in year-over-year allocations.