NEW: Cy-Fair-area entities see drop in sales tax collections from sales made in April

Several taxing entities in the Cy-Fair area saw declines in sales tax revenue for the month of April as compared to April 2019, according to recently released data from the Texas comptrolller.

Affected entities include one local city and one emergency services district, a governmental entity that collect sales tax revenue on behalf of a local fire department.

The city of Jersey Village saw a decrease of roughly 21.9% in sales tax revenue, from $588,000 in April 2019 to $459,000 in April 2020. The city was projected to bring in $3.8 million in sales tax revenue when the fiscal year 2019-20 budget was adopted in September. With June's collections accounted for, the city has brought in about $3.1 million so far this year with three months remaining. The city had raised about $2.6 million at this same point last fiscal year.

The city brought in about $582,000 in sales tax revenue in March, which was actually an increase of 11% over the previous year. In its FY 2019-20 budget, the city expected sales taxes to make up 34% of overall revenue with property taxes, which could also be affected by COVID-19, making up another 37%. City Manager Austin Bleess has previously said he expects a budget shortfall but does not anticipate having to cut city staff.

Harris County ESD No. 9, which manages the budget of the Cy-Fair Fire Department, saw an 8.4% decrease in revenue, from $3.1 million in April 2019 to $2.9 million in April 2020.

The district was projected to bring in about $38 million in sales tax revenue in its FY 2019-20 budget, a projection that anticipated a $5 million increase in revenue from the previous year. It has collected about $19.2 million so far this year, as compared to $17.6 million in FY 2018-19, according to comptroller data.

Sales tax revenue makes up about 54% of overall revenue for ESD No. 9, while property tax revenue makes up about 35%. A representative with ESD No. 9 could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the city of Houston saw sales tax revenue down by more than $9 million compared to April 2019, or 17.2%, according to comptroller data. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County saw a drop in revenue of more than $10 million, or 16.4%.

A total of $690.4 million was distributed in sales tax revenue across Texas from the month of April, down about 11.7% from the previous year, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in a statement.