Howe Library info

Local sales tax receipts up remarkably during the COVID-19 period; small towns in North Texas take shopping locally to heart

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday he would be sending cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $690.4 million in local sales tax allocations for June, 11.7 percent less than in June 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in April by businesses that report tax monthly.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread social distancing requirements were in place across much of the state in April, leading to the steepest year-overyear decline in allocations since September 2009. However, in North Texas, the small towns had record highs. Van Alstyne showed the sharpest growth with a whopping 98.95 percent by hauling in $254,029 which is nearly $100,000 more than in any previous month in the city’s history. Van Alstyne’s previous high was $158,937 which was in February of this year.

In Howe, the increase was 22.8 percent from the same period a year ago which totaled $32,971.07, a record high for this period.

Howe’s Economic Development Director Monte Walker says the community members understood the necessity of shopping locally during that difficult time and it showed heavily. Acknowledging the ease of skipping to nearby Sherman to make purchases, Howe proved to prospect businesses that they can support their own which goes a long way in the recruiting process for additional businesses such as a grocer which is the number one target Howe wants to provide for the citizens.

Each local town had its own “shop local” program which helped sparked the local spending. Howe’s Chamber of Commerce dis-

City June

Sherman Denison Gainesville Anna Celina Melissa Van Alstyne Bonham Whitesboro Pottsboro Gunter Southmayd Whitewright Leonard

Howe

Collinsville Bells Tioga Oak Ridge Tom Bean Savoy Ector Dorchester $1,470,818.13 $644,713.32 $605,619.07 $291,844.91 $289,815.80 $260,733.20 $254,029.64 $186,734.44 $130,196.65 $49,934.93 $41,235.58 $40,105.02 $38,957.71 $35,619.52

$32,971.07

$27,354.66 $21,014.79 $16,977.06 $9,362.45 $9,028.11 $4,805.91 $3,567.57 $1,399.29

City

Van Alstyne Gunter Collinsville Dorchester Celina Savoy Ector Leonard Whitesboro Oak Ridge Howe Tom Bean Tioga Whitewright Anna Pottsboro Bonham Denison Melissa Southmayd Gainesville Sherman Bells

Change

98.95% 67.93% 48.83% 48.42% 47.91% 44.15% 40.30% 34.58% 33.37% 22.95% 22.80% 22.71% 21.56% 16.45% 12.46% 12.05% 9.14% 7.99% -0.59% -1.12% -9.86% -16.47% -55.67%

played yard signs with #howeproud on top of the “V” which represented the victory light in downtown Howe. The light, which is usually only lit for a varsity football win, was turned on for the entire month of May.

The Howe Enterprise also partnered with local businesses and purchased gift certificates to local restaurants and had egg hunts for the prizes. The Enterprise also ran no-charge ads for a few businesses in the commercial district during the shutdown.

While the small towns saw heavy increases in local spending during the shutdown, the large city shopping hubs saw declines. Sherman and Gainesville which are continually the heavy-hitters in sales tax receipts, each saw steep losses with Sherman down half a million from the previous month and nearly $300,000 from the same month a year ago.

City 2020

Sherman Denison Gainesville Anna Celina Melissa Bonham Van Alstyne Whitesboro Pottsboro Southmayd Whitewright

Howe

Gunter Leonard Collinsville Bells Tioga Tom Bean Oak Ridge Savoy Ector Dorchester $11,101,808.99 $4,028,256.64 $3,670,670.67 $1,620,211.43 $1,619,805.87 $1,542,257.45 $1,097,124.02 $950,251.54 $723,337.96 $310,502.47 $264,939.79 $230,876.23

$203,700.13

$202,473.51 $198,909.79 $141,928.54 $126,277.46 $102,655.70 $58,961.71 $47,619.78 $29,723.38 $14,997.96 $6,486.01 MONMOUTH, IL - Elijah Campbell, a exercise science major from Howe, has made the Dean's List at Monmouth College for the Spring 2020 semester. Making the list requires a GPA of at least 3.5 for the semester while taking at least 3.0 credit hours.

Founded in 1853, Monmouth College is a nationally ranked liberal arts college. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the birthplace of the women's fraternity movement, the college offers 38 majors, 42 minors, 17 preprofessional tracks, and two innovative Triads in Global Food Security and Global Public Health.

Elijah Campbell

Howe Community Library has an eye spy picture contest coming up

Submitted by Melissa Atchison, Librarian, Howe Community Library.

Things are happening at Howe Community Library this summer! Call (903)745-4050 for all the details. days at 10 am. And we're creating Paper Circuits on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm for Middle Schoolers. Come by the library to pick up your supplies so you can create with us!

Our curbside service is now available Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. We are also open late on Tuesday until 7. Call us at (903) 745-4050 to reserve books or movies and we'll bring them to your car. Go to our Facebook page and watch the video about how to reserve books online.

Our Summer Reading Program is in full swing! All of the following are videos on our Facebook page: Storytime with Ms. Joyce is for little ones from infant through kindergarten on Friday mornings at 10:00. Breaking Free with McKenzie is a story and craft for 1st through 4th graders WednesWe have LOTS of people participating in our Reading Challenge. Set a weekly goal to read every day. When you've reached that goal, come by the library to let us know and choose a free new book, a Sonic coupon, and get your name in a drawing for a Kindle Fire. This contest goes through July, so you can get your name in that drawing once each week until the contest is over. Happy Reading!!

Watch for our article in next week's Howe Enterprise for details about an Eye Spy Picture Contest around our fair city. There will be prizes for those who get all the answers correct.