Comptroller Will Distribute $1.4 Billion in October Local Sales Taxes, Up 14.6 Percent
Don Huffines said Nov. 13 that cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts will receive $1.4 billion in October local sales tax allocations, 14.6 percent more than a year ago. The office's October state-tax figure differs from its Nov. 2 report.
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines said Nov. 13 that local governments will receive $1.4 billion in allocations of net local sales tax collected in October, 14.6 percent more than a year ago. The official release, issued from Austin, says the money will go to Texas cities, counties, transit systems, and special purpose districts. Huffines also said "many cities and counties can reduce property taxes due to increased sales tax revenue." That is his statement. The release does not name cities that have cut property tax rates, and it does not require them to do so.
"The Texas economy continues to thrive, and I hope the Texas Legislature next year does the right thing, the smart thing, to use these revenues as a tool to help reduce property taxes for Texans, which would help make housing more affordable for homeowners," Huffines said. That is a hope for the coming session, not a bill that has been passed, and not a change in local tax rates announced in this report.
The same release breaks down the November allocations, which are based on October collections. Cities are to receive $902.7 million, up 13.3 percent from November 2025, with a year-to-date change of 7.4 percent. Transit systems are to receive $301.1 million, up 16.1 percent, with a year-to-date change of 8.1 percent. Counties are to receive $88.3 million, up 15.6 percent, with a year-to-date change of 8.9 percent. Special purpose districts are to receive $153.2 million, up 19.3 percent, the largest percentage increase in the table, with a year-to-date change of 11.2 percent. The four lines sum to about $1.45 billion; the office rounds the total to $1.4 billion, up 14.6 percent from a year ago, with a year-to-date change of 8.0 percent. The release does not define the year-to-date period beyond the table label.
The office also reported combined collections. It said the state collected $4.7 billion in net state sales tax revenue in October and $1.4 billion in net local sales tax revenue, and that combined state and local net sales tax revenue totaled $6.15 billion, 11.9 percent more than in October 2025. Readers should not treat the $4.7 billion state figure as a silent update of an earlier report without noticing the difference. On Nov. 2, the Comptroller's office said net state sales tax revenue totaled $4.8 billion in October, 13.3 percent more than in October 2025, as we reported in Texas Sales Tax Revenue Jumped 13% in October to $4.8 Billion. Construction and Manufacturing Led the Way. Today's release does not explain the $100 million difference between those two official state totals for the same month. This account reports both figures as the office published them and does not choose one over the other.
That Nov. 2 report covered state collections and the sectors behind them. Today's report is the monthly distribution of local sales tax to the governments that levy it. The two should not be read as the same announcement. The Nov. 13 release says these collections come mostly from businesses that report tax monthly and reflect their September sales, and from businesses that report quarterly. Businesses that report annually remit on a different schedule. In other words, the money now being allocated is largely tied to sales already made, not to sales in November.
Net revenue, the office says, reflects sales tax collections after refunds, overpayment credits, and prepayment adjustments. Local amounts are also net of the state's 2 percent administrative fee, which is deposited to the General Revenue Fund. The release does not state the dollar amount of that fee on this month's local collections.
The Comptroller's office posts jurisdiction-level detail in its Monthly Sales Tax Allocation Comparison Summary Reports. That page describes the payments as funds identified for local jurisdictions since the previous month's distribution and says the reports, used with other local indicators, "may help indicate present and future economic trends." It lists separate comparison reports for cities, cities by county, the top 20 cities by current year-to-date amounts, counties, metropolitan transit authorities and city transit departments, special-purpose districts, a single local use tax rate comparison, and local rate changes for the last 14 months. This article does not reprint individual city or county amounts from those reports.
Sales tax is real money, and local governments depend on it. It is also not a substitute for a property tax cut unless a city council, a commissioners court, or the Legislature actually cuts a rate. Texans can check what their own city or county is slated to receive. They should also notice what this release does not do: it does not lower anyone's property tax bill, and it does not resolve the two different official figures the office has now published for October's net state sales tax. "A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight" (Proverbs 11:1). The figures should be reported as they were issued, and the difference should be left in plain view until the office explains it.
