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Waco is richer than it was last year. There's been an increase in sales tax revenue post-holidays, giving our local economy a big boost.
The Texas Comptroller's Office sent the city nearly $5.1 million in sales tax revenue — which is about $500,000 more than last year.
"This is an above average year. I mean, Waco has been a city for the last several years. It's been growing after many decades where it didn't grow as fast as the state. But is now growing faster," local economist Ray Perryman said.
That spending includes November shopping — which is usually when people kick off their holiday spending around Black Friday.
Perryman tells 25 News' Alexa Conroy this shows both short-term growth and a strong steady growth for retail, food, and tourism.
"Lately been growing a little faster than the state and we're seeing that and we're also seeing that growth to some extent concentrated in tourism related industries partially because of the effect of Magnolia's," Perryman said.
But a short-term slowdown could be possible as the economy begins to warm up again.
"I would expect to see the area continue to grow. We're going in a little bit of an economic slowdown right now across the state and across the country. So for the next few months you'll probably see a little bit of sluggishness there. But on the whole, we expect the economy to continue to expand over the next several years," Perryman said.
Meanwhile not all surrounding cities saw the same growth. Rebates dropped in places like Hewitt, McGregor, Lorena, and Lacy Lakeview, while Robinson, Bellmead, and Woodway saw increases.
Local business worker Kamryn Atkins tells me a busy holiday season made a noticeable difference this year.
"During the holidays we've had a lot more people come in,especially because of Magnolia right next to us, even my boss tells us we've gotten a lot more people shopping the store this year than last year."
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