Texas Border Business
According to the Texas Comptroller’s Office figures released this week, the City of Harlingen sales tax dollars increased by over $153,900 in April compared to the same month last year. This translates to a jump of over 9.5% over the same period in 2015. April also marked the ninth time in the last twelve monthly recording periods that have shown growth in the city’s sales tax receipts. Sales taxes received in April reflect actual sales in February. Michael Lamon, President of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors said, “Harlingen will once again achieve retail sales of over $1 billion in the city. Only McAllen and Brownsville top that number.”
Since the beginning of the fiscal year, Harlingen has shown an increase of over $288,000 over last year’s year-to-date sales tax receipts, an increase of 2.64%. According to Raudel Garza, Harlingen EDC Chief Executive Officer, Harlingen’s steady growth can be largely attributed to new commercial developments, an increased marketing effort by the EDC and a rise in the local workforce that has translated into lower unemployment. “As our workforce increases and jobs are created, we are seeing a continued improvement in retail sales. We are growing at a rate that we pretty much expected for this year.”
