Sales tax allocation data from April, the first full month affected by the coronavirus, for Tomball and Magnolia was released by the Texas comptroller’s office June 10.

Magnolia saw another month of increased sales tax allocations with a 18.45% increase in April compared to last year.

Magnolia’s allocations increased by $35,000, from $191,000 to $226,000.

Magnolia City Administrator Don Doering said he was happy to see businesses are doing well.

“Apparently the drive-thru windows have been very busy,” he said. “The other businesses that didn’t close are all doing well.”

Doering said the city is cautiously optimistic and waiting to see what happens next month.

“We are hoping the trend is going to continue to increase rather than decrease,” he said.

Tomball saw a decrease of 24.56% to its sales tax allocations from April compared to the previous year.

Tomball’s allocations decreased by $367,000 compared to last year from $1.49 million to $1.13 million.

Tomball City Manager Rob Hauck said the decrease was expected as April was the first full month affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were estimating [a decrease] somewhere in the 20% range, and it did right around there,” he said. “I certainly would have loved it to be less, [but] it was not discouraging because it was consistent with what we anticipated.”

Hauck said he is optimistic that numbers will begin to rise; however, he is not sure how quickly that will happen.

“I am encouraged by the commerce going on in our community,” he said. “Not just the Lowes, H-E-B's and Krogers of the world, but we are really seeing people get out and move around Tomball and shop.”

As the decrease was within the projected number, Hauck said the city has not had to make any furloughs or added budget cuts.

Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 10—which contracts with the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department—saw a 14.85% increase year over year, an increase of just over $130,000 from April 2019 to April 2020.

The Westwood Magnolia Parkway Improvement District—which spans the FM 1488 and FM 2978—saw a decrease of 19.05% year over year, a decrease of just under $58,000 from April 2019 to April 2020.