Brownwood Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Emily Crawford told board members Tuesday afternoon that sales tax collection is continuing to be a “roller coaster ride.”

“Some months we are up and some months we are down,” Crawford said. “It is just inconsistent at this point.”

Board member Gregg Rice said he felt one of the major reasons for the inconsistency is due to consumer apprehension. “I believe that people are just not comfortable with spending thousands of dollars at a time—major purchases.” Sales tax collection in Brownwood has dropped five percent from this same time period on year ago, Crawford said.

The Cline Shale oil boom could be a contributing factor to the decrease in sales tax, said board member Keith Clark. “Much of the increase is out west,” Clark said. Crawford agreed with Clark and reported neighboring communities are facing the same decrease. “Even Abilene saw a drop last month,” Crawford said.

Crawford said that despite the drop in sales tax, expenses are not meeting earlier projections, which has caused an overall “leveling off.” Near-future events could see an upswing in sales tax receipts, Crawford said. “We have some sporting events and other things happening in Brownwood  soon that will hopefully make an impact.”

In other business, the BEDC:

• heard from Brian Kight with TSTC who said members of the Texas Army National Guard recently underwent a two-day event on campus where they received suicide prevention and resilience training. Kight also discussed “Blossom”,  an event scheduled for July 24 at the Brownwood campus, which is intended to spark female interest in technology, science, engineering and math
• heard from Laura Terhune with the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce who reminded the board that Representative Jim Keffer would be the guest speaker at Friday’s chamber luncheon
• approved an agreement with ED Suite to build an enhanced Web site for the BEDC

Photo by Rick Phelps

Pictured – Brian Kight with TSTC provided an update of current events to the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation during the group’s Tuesday afternoon meeting.