April sales tax income for Wood County cities continues to show improvement.

But this may be the last positive report for awhile as the May report from the state comptroller will reflect March sales, which are expected to be down due to numerous business closures and cutbacks due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The April report reflects primarily retail sales that occurred in February and were reported to the state in March.

The six cities that collect a tax on retail sales earned $372,487 in April compared to $349,262 in April 2019.

For the year the six have earned $1,653,723 compared to $1,485,122 in the first four months of 2019.

Wood County also collects a half-cent sales tax in addition to the 1.5 cents the cities collect.

The county earned $161,685 in April, a gain of 7.4% from last year. For the year the county has gained $729,501 in sales tax income for a 10.63% gain from 2019.

Combined with the cities, sales taxes generated $534,172 for Wood County governments in April and for the year has been responsible for $2,383,224 compared to $2,144,773 at this time last year.

Merchants generally report sales taxes to the state monthly, though smaller businesses may report quarterly, semiannually or yearly.

The state retains the 6.25% state sales tax and rebates cities and counties their shares monthly.

Sales tax income in Alba has nearly doubled, with receipts totaling $86,939 compared to $45,243 through April 2019. The monthly rebate of $28,605 is three times the April 2019 rebate of $9,476.

Hawkins showed a 7.75% gain for the monthly rebate to $20,900. For the year the city has earned $104,021 for a 17.75% gain over 2019.

Mineola saw a slight slip in the monthly rebate but remains 10 percent ahead of last year.

The city’s share for April was $166,231 compared to $168,642 in April 2019. The yearly total of $776,667 is up from $706,121 received a year ago for the first four months.

Quitman saw a slight gain for its monthly rebate, from $61,733 a year ago to $62,304 for April 2020. For the year Quitman is up by 9.22% to $265,794.

The Winnsboro rebate in April totaled $88,054, a 4.35% gain. For the year Winnsboro has added $392,172 to its coffers compared to $377,781 last year.

Receipts in Yantis totaled $6,391 in April, up 13.4%. So far this year the city has earned $28,129, up 14.37 percent.

Merchants outside city limits collect only the state and county sales taxes for a total tax of 6.75%.