South County keeping pace despite down economy

Conroe Courier - Lucretia Cardenas

Although South Montgomery County isn’t seeing major retail growth this year, and some entities have experienced a decline, sales tax revenue, for the most part, remain steady.

The workforce for the area also is holding its own. Of the more than 20,000 non-retail jobs with South County’s major employers, only 60 have been lost since January, said Gil Staley, chief executive officer of the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership. But businesses are still looking to move to South Montgomery County, which means more jobs are on the way, Staley said. Just last week, the EDP hosted a research and development company that could bring up to 100 high-paying jobs to South County.

Sales tax revenue is down, Staley admits, but he believes the thinking of scaling back in this nation’s economy is playing a part.

The Woodlands Township saw another decrease (4.2 percent) in sales tax allocations this month, which reflects August collections. The collections this year are still 4 percent above budget, said Nick Wolda, president of The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Overall, comparing June through October allocations from 2008 to 2009, the township has collected 3.9 percent less in sales taxes so far. Between June and October 2008, the township collected $10.47 million and from June through October 2009, the township collected $10.05 million.

This is reflected in the retail businesses and restaurants tracked by the township because they are down 3-5 percent compared with last year, Wolda said. Non-retail is beginning to see a decline in construction sales tax and corporate taxpayers. State Comptroller Susan Combs projects that entities will continue to see decreases through the end of 2009, according to a press release.

“2009 will go down as a very interesting year in the record books,” Wolda said. “We’re coming off record years in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Trying to compare year over year makes it difficult. For instance, 2008 started very well and then was impacted by a major hurricane. Some businesses have thrived, some businesses are holding on and others have not succeeded.

“Overall, the feelings of the many retail and hotel businesses in The Woodlands are anxious for 2010 and say they believe a better year is ahead.”

Directly affected by Hurricane Ike was The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, which underwent five months of renovations to fix the tent and performance area. Sales tax allocations from January through October 2009 are 23.4 percent lower than the same period last year. Several months show no sales tax collections, reflecting the Pavilion’s closure.

However, the Pavilion is bouncing back. October sales tax allocations are 2.3 percent higher than October 2008. Those figures represent August sales, which was the month before Hurricane Ike hit last year.

Market Street is seeing a small decrease so far this year compared with last – 1.4 percent – and Wolda attributes the decrease in the high-end shopping area to the economy. But the month of August saw a lot of sales. October allocations show 16.9 percent more allocated than in October 2008.

The Woodlands Mall southern expansion also is enjoying a vibrant October, which is 47.6 percent above October 2008. But for the year, the area is still 10.4 percent below its 2008 sales tax collections. Nevertheless, Wolda said the figures are skewed because of one-time construction occurring on the Waterway Square.

One area doing much better than last year is the College Park Shopping Center, which includes Wal-Mart and Lowe’s on the north side of Texas 242. The area is 20.3 percent above 2008 from January through October; and this month it saw a 2.2 percent increase over last year. While things are going well, the numbers are skewed because a one-time adjustment was made because a taxpayer was paying sales taxes to the wrong entity, meaning the township is now receiving the taxes it should have received previously, Wolda said.

The city of Magnolia’ sales tax allocations have dropped 3 percent so far this year. October didn’t help, with a 14 percent drop compared to October 2008. At the beginning of the year, the city saw double-digit increases, and City Administrator Ryan Kelly attributed it to people shopping close to home. Kelly did not return phone calls from The Courier Thursday.

Shenandoah is almost right on target with 2008, with less than a percent increase. Oak Ridge North’s sales tax allocations have increased 6.2 percent.