February’s deep freeze put the clamps on the local economy, based on the monthly sales tax allocation report from the state comptroller’s office.

Sales tax collections for February 2021 by six cities and the county government were $22,000 less than in February 2020.

Even during the past 13 months of pandemic restrictions, Wood County sales tax collections continued their upward trend. But the mid-February snow, ice and cold that basically shut down the county and the region for a week slowed consumer spending.

Mineola, Alba and the county all showed lower collections than a year ago while Quitman and Winnsboro had modest increases. Only Hawkins at 22% and Yantis at 11% showed significant gains.

Despite the losses, county sales were up enough for the first three months of 2021 that tax collections are still ahead of 2020, with only Alba dropping below last year’s record pace.

The April report is primarily for taxes collected by retail businesses during February and reported to the state in March.

All six Wood County cities collect 1.5% on top of the state’s 6.25% tax on retail sales. The county collects an additional half-percent for a total sales tax rate of 8.25% inside cities - the maximum allowed by law. Outside cities the rate is 6.75%.

Alba saw its sales tax check cut in half, with the city earning $14,473 compared to $28,605 a year ago. For the year Alba has earned $82,173, a decline of 5.5% from 2020 when $86,939 was collected through April.

Mineola monthly sales tax income of $151,356 dropped almost nine percent from a year ago when revenues were $166,231. The city remains ahead for the calendar year, with income totaling $787,498 for four months versus $776,667 last year.

Quitman posted a 2.3% April gain to $63,725. The total for the year of $275,659 is up from $265,794 for an improvement of just under four percent.

Winnsboro posted April income of $92,295 for a 4.7% gain from $88,054. For the year the city has received $463,217 in sales tax revenue, up by more than 18%.

Hawkins’ income of $25,505 for the month rose 22% from a year ago. That puts the yearly income at $118,543, which is up by 14%.

Yantis has received $34,251 this year, an improvement of almost 22%. The monthly rebate for $7,102 compares to $6,391 last April.

The county’s revenue fell 2.2% in April to $156,135, a loss of about $3,500. For the year the county is ahead of 2020 by 4.33 percent, reaching $761,729.

Statewide sales tax income fell by 3.5% to $677.3 million, with city income falling 2.7% to $436 million and county income dropping 8.2% to $40 million. Transit system income dropped almost six percent to $145.7 million while special purpose districts saw a slight up-tick to $55.5 million.