Featured: Erika Stubberud, left, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Nursing student from Brownsville, and Alejandra Benítez, UTRGV Environmental Science student from Reynosa, Mexico, in front of the UTRGV sign as winter weather brought rare snow to the campus on Friday, December 8, 2017 in Edinburg. Edinburg’s retail economy during the November and December 2017 holiday season – which feature Thanksgiving and Christmas – showed an improvement of 0.51 percent over the same two months of the 2016 holiday season, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council, along with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and its Board of Directors, lobby the Texas Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents on matters that benefit and protect UTRGV and its School of Medicine, which have major campuses in the city.
Photograph By PAUL CHOUY
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City’s retail economy during Thanksgiving and Christmas 2017 showed combined improvement over 2016 holiday period, reports Edinburg EDC
By DAVID A. DÍAZ
[email protected]
Edinburg’s retail economy during the November and December 2017 holiday season – which feature Thanksgiving and Christmas – showed an improvement of 0.51 percent over the same two months of the 2016 holiday season, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced.
The Edinburg EDC, of which Joey Treviño is the Executive Director, is the jobs-creation arm of Mayor Richard Molina, Mayor Pro-Tem David Torres, Councilmember Homer Jasso, Jr., Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez, and Councilmember Jorge Salinas.
The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of City Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez as President, Edinburg School Board Trustee Miguel “Mike” Farías as Vice-President, Isael Posadas, P.E., as Secretary/Treasurer, and Julio César Carranza and Noé Sauceda, Ph.D. as Members.
The amount of local sales taxes collected helps reflect the strength of an economy, along with construction activities, per capita income, education, historical performances, and related trends.
The local sales tax is also used in Edinburg to help pay for many city services, while the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation uses its one-half cent local sales tax to help generate economic development in the city.
Combined, Edinburg’s retail economy in November and December 2017 produced $3,791,478.92 in local sales taxes, compared to $3,771,890.08 for November and December 2016 – an increase of .051 percent.
For November 2017, Edinburg’s
For December 2017, Edinburg’s retail economy produced $2,139,029.46 in local sales taxes, compared with $2,248,780.54 in December 2016, representing a decrease of 4.88 percent.
In terms of local sales tax revenue for November 2017, McAllen led all major Valley cities with $5,010,846.63, while Brownsville was second, ($3,051,584.55), Harlingen was third ($1,922,065.33), and Edinburg was fourth ($1,652,449,46).
For December 2017, McAllen reported $6,900,279.99 in local sales taxes generated, Brownsville was second ($4,040,219.35), followed by Harlingen ($2,680,037.21) and Edinburg ($2,139,029.46)
The sales tax, formally known as the State Sales and Use Tax, is imposed on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Texas cities, counties, transit authorities and special purpose districts have the option of imposing an additional local sales tax for a combined total of state and local taxes of 8 1/4% (.0825).
All data, which under the reporting system used by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, begin in November of each year and end in October of the following year.
How Key Valley Cities Performed In December 2017 and December 2016
All figures are based on sales made in December 2017 by businesses that report tax monthly; October, November and December sales by quarterly filers; and 2017 sales by businesses that report tax annually,
according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
The data was released by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Wednesday, February 7, 2018.
The local sales tax data is among the latest economic barometers featured in a detailed summary provided by the state comptroller’s office.
Among its many duties, the Texas Comptroller’s office is the state’s chief tax collector, accountant, revenue estimator and treasurer.
Based on the amount of sales taxes generated, according to the state comptroller’s office, the Valley’s major cities ranked accordingly in the following local sales tax figures:
December 2017 compared with December 2016
• McAllen: $6,900,279.99, up 1.26 percent compared with December 2016 ($6,813,759.93);
• Brownsville: $4,040,219.35, up 7.01 percent compared with December 2016 ($3,775,340.11);
• Harlingen: $2,680,037.21, up 9.78 percent compared with December 2016 ($2,441,193.54);
• Edinburg: $2,139,029.46,
• Pharr: $1,712,515.36, up 9.07 percent compared with December 2016 ($1,569,999.61);
• Mission: $1,491,312.79, up 0.34 percent compared with December 2016 ($1,486,215.64); and
• Weslaco: $1,247,148.83, up 1.29 percent compared with December 2016 ($1,231,213.20).
November 2017 through December 2017, compared with November 2016 through December 2016
Under the reporting system maintained online by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, for all public entities which generate local sales taxes, year-to-date totals begin in November of each year.
From November 2017 through December 2017, based on the amount of sales taxes generated, compared with November 2016 through December 2016, the Valley’s major cities ranked accordingly in the following local sales tax figures:
• McAllen: $11,911,126.62, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 2.73 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($11,593,893.86);
• Brownsville: $7,091,803.90, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 5.54 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($6,719,467.52);
• Harlingen: $4,602,102.54, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 7.64 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($4,275,081.84);
• Edinburg: $3,791,478.92, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 0.51 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($3,771,890.08);
• Pharr: $3,214,565.24, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 11.34 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($2,887,065.35);
• Mission: $2,687,586.77, from November 2017 through December 2017, down 3.77 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($2,793,092.02); and
• Weslaco: $2,213,813.11, from November 2017 through December 2017, up 0.80 percent compared with November 2016 through December 2016 ($2,196,131.23).
For details on local sales taxes generated in December 2017 by individual cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts, visit the Comptroller’s Monthly Sales Tax Allocation Comparison Summary Reports.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY ENJOYED RARE SNOWFALL DURING DECEMBER 2017 HOLIDAY SEASON
It really did look a lot like Christmas, as snow fell on UTRGV campuses and locations from Brownsville to Edinburg and beyond on Friday, December 8, 2017.
Various spots throughout the Rio Grande Valley received anywhere from a dusting of the white stuff to up to two to three inches, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The last time the Valley experienced snow was December 24, 2004, when the Brownsville area got about an inch and a half and other parts received a bit more snow, said Robert Frye, a meteorologist from the NWS in Brownsville.
Though UTRGV remained on its regular schedule, students, faculty and staff took some time in the morning to snap pictures, catch snowflakes and play in the snow.
Frank López, a work study student in the UTRGV Language Institute, said he remembers seeing the 2004 snowfall in Mexico.
“This is pretty exciting since we haven’t seen snow in 13 years,” López said. “I remember the snow in 2004, but I was living in Mexico then. It’s a great feeling; it’s as if nothing can bring you down on these types of days. But for Valley people, it certainly is cold!”
The wintry mix didn’t last for long. The sun returned by mid-day, raising temperatures and turning snow into rain.
About UTRGV
The Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council, along with the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and its Board of Directors, lobby the Texas Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents on matters that benefit and protect UTRGV and its School of Medicine, which have major campuses in the city.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
PHOTO GALLERY – EDINBURG CAMPUS: https://utrgv-umc.
Password: snowday (case sensitive)
PHOTO GALLERY – BROWNSVILLE CAMPUS: https://utrgv-umc.
Password: snow (case sensitive)
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Jennifer Berghom and Amanda Taylor contributed to this article. For more information on the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and the City of Edinburg, please log on to http://edinburgedc.com or to http://www.facebook.com/
