Sales tax payments drift lower for cities

Sales tax payments  to  Texas taxing entities rose slightly this month while declining for Levelland and four other towns in Hockley County.

The $609.8 million that the Texas Comptroller sent to local governments was up 1.2 percent compared to July 2014.

While allocations were up this month, state sales tax revenue in June was $2.2 billion,  or down 1.4 percent from a year ago.

It was the first decline in sales tax revenue for the state after 62 consecutive months of growth, said Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.