League City sales tax revenue for May rebounds

It appears League City's fiscal year 2020-21 budget will not face as dire a shortfall as officials originally expected.

In April, League City officials had a grim view of how much sales tax revenue the city would collect throughout the rest of the year, but actual dollars coming into the city are better than what was originally budgeted in September 2019, according to data from the state comptroller.

According to data released July 8, League City collected $2.5 million in sales tax revenue in May—about $700,000 more than the $1.8 million city officials projected as of May 1 to collect for the month of May.

The $2.5 million is even better than officials expected before the coronavirus pandemic hit. In September 2019, sales tax revenue for May was budgeted at $2.2 million, about $300,000 less than what the city actually collected.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, League City officials expected residents to spend less, resulting in lower sales tax revenue. For at least a couple months, they were right: Sales tax revenue was $2.5 million in March as compared to a budgeted $2.7 million, and sales tax revenue for April was about $15,000 short of the $2.1 million budgeted.

According to city projections, the city was expected to bring in less sales tax revenue each month than budgeted up until September.

The city released two projections in April that were more optimistic than the May projection: One forecasted $2 million in sales tax revenue for May, and the other, $1.9 million.