Edinburg retail economy for February 2015 shows 14.38 percent increase over same month last year as positive future predicted by Fitch Ratings, Inc.
Featured, from left: Agustín “Gus” García, Jr., Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; Ramiro Garza, Jr., Edinburg City Manager; and Edinburg City Councilmember Richard Molina, in the Gallery of the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 10 for Rio Grande Valley Day at the State Capitol.
Photograph By DIEGO REYNA
Edinburg’s retail economy for the month of February 2015 was 14.38 percent better than the same month last year, generating $1,560,490.17 in local sales taxes, compared with $1,364,200.96 in February 2014, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council. That showing was the best among all of the Valley’s major cities for February 2015, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, which on Wednesday, April 8, released statewide figures, which represents the most up-to-date figures information for that state agency. Edinburg’s almost 15 percent improvement also was significantly higher than the average of all city economies in the state, which combined showed an improvement of 3.3 percent when comparing February 2015 with the same month last year, the state comptroller’s office also reported. 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. Year-to-date, the Edinburg economy is 6.40 percent ahead of 2014, having produced $6,677,232.04 in local sales taxes in 2015, compared with $6,275,246.74 during the same period last year. The local sales tax figures represent sales reported by monthly tax filers for February 2015, sent to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in March, and returned as sales tax rebates to the respective local government entities in April. The local sales tax is used in Edinburg to help pay for many city services, while the EEDC uses its one-half cent local sales tax to help generate economic development in the city. Fitch Ratings, Inc., a global credit conglomerate which rates economies on their strengths and weaknesses for national and international businesses and investors, in early March gave independent and positive views on Edinburg’s economy. On March 4, the New York-based credit rating agency provided its public analyses of Edinburg’s economy and financial activities of the city government and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. Among its key findings: Because of its position near the Mexican border along a major transportation route, Edinburg serves as a distribution center, benefiting from the trade generated by cross-border manufacturing activity as well as the agricultural production in the region. Retail trade, government, education and health services are all major components of the area economy; and further economic expansion is expected in the near term related to $150 million in projects underway at the newly designated University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, including the region’s first medical school, and a $200 million expansion of the local hospital. Planned projects include a $650 million power plant and an upscale retail, entertainment, and hotel complex.
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