Sales within city hit record high

One of the best indicators of the health of the local economy has proven to be strong the last few months.

Sales tax allocations were once again high this time setting a record for collections for the city of Wimberley. The allocations show that more money was spent within the Wimberley city limits in December 2019 than any other month of the last 20 years.

The February allocation, which represents one percent of sales made during the month of December within the Wimberley city limits, was $118,033.76. The previous record was the same month last year, as December is typically the highest month for sales within the city. Last year’s allocation was $101,961.21. The total for this year represents a nearly 16 percent increase over last year’s high, which set the previous record.

“It just seems like we are seeing a lot more visitors in town,” City Administrator Shawn Cox said. “Every weekend I have driven through the Square, there are a lot of shoppers and a lot of visitors. I think it is paying off well for our sales tax.”

Four of the last five months have shown a sales tax allocation increase compared to the same month last year. Through the first five months of the fiscal year, Wimberley has already collected more than 50 percent of the amount budgeted for the year. So far, the city has seen a 9.6 percent increase in sales tax allocations from October through February.

Sales tax allocations for the city of Woodcreek have been similarly high. Woodcreek received $7,371 in sales tax allocations in the month of February, which is up nearly 22 percent over the same month last year. This would have been a record month for Woodcreek; however, in 2014 reporting issues with the state’s allocation for Woodcreek resulted in the city receiving multiple months of back pay at one time.

The Wimberley Village Library, which receives half a percent of sales tax collected within the Wimberley ISD, collected $83,806.13. This was up nearly 23 percent over the same month last year. This helped make up for a January allocation check that was nearly $8,000 lower than the previous year.

Almost every city in Hays County saw an increased allocation this month. San Marcos saw the largest increase in total amount collecting $5,841,317.41 in February after collecting $4,455,655.89 in February of 2019. Hays County received $3,162,407.26, which was a nearly 29 percent increase over the same month last year.