Angelina Sales Tax Rebates Continue Upward

Everyone knows state sales tax revenues are a reliable barometer of a city or county's economic health.  Those revenues rise and fall with the economy, and the good news today is that the revenues are up again, and so are the local shares of those collections.

A bunch of that money is coming back to Angelina County.

Texas allows cities and counties a one-cent share of the state sales taxes they collect, and the Lufkin News reports that based on total retail sales in June, all seven Angelina County government entities will get sales tax rebates totaling $1,491,098.

Of the six incorporated cities, Lufkin gets the biggest rebate: $993,489 dollars.  That's up 8.2 percent from June of 2011.  Unincorporated Angelina County's rebate is $401, 541 dollars, up almost 8 percent from June a year ago.

"This is fantastic news" says Jim Wehmeier, Economic Development Director for the City of Lufkin and President/CEO of the Lufkin/Angelina County Economic Development Partnership .

Wehmeier says sales tax rebates are important because they account for a significant amount of Lufkin's total revenue. The rebates support a lot of city’s services, including the economic development department.  He says "We’re very happy to see it continue to grow.”