The City of Fairfield experiences a 25.41 percent nosedive in sales tax revenue this month, compared to what was reimbursed by the state comptroller a year ago.

Fairfield receives a check for $128,087, down from the $171,742 paid in December 2008.

The December check represents taxes collected on October retail sales and reported to the comptroller in November.

That is a bigger drop than what has been experienced for the year as a whole.

Sales tax reimbursements in 2009 total $2.3 million, down 5.92 percent from the $2.5 million received in 2008.

“Sales tax collections, declining since February, continued to be weak,” Comptroller Susan Combs reports. “Compared to a year ago, sales tax collections were down across all major sectors of the Texas economy, including oil and natural gas production, construction, manufacturing and retail trade.”

The comptroller sent Texas cities December sales tax allocations of $279.6 million, down 14.9 percent compared to December 2008. For the year, sales tax revenue reimbursed to the 1,136 cities collecting the optional levy were down 5.09 percent.

Teague receives $38,946 this month, down 17.9 percent from the $47,440 reimbursed last December. Sales tax revenue in Teague rose 3.04 percent, however, from $558,769 to $575,808.

Wortham is reimbursed $5,633 this month, down a whopping 40.36 percent from the December 2008 payment of $9,447. Sales tax revenue in Wortham dropped 5.78 for the year, from $119,136 to $112,249.

December payment to Streetman, $3,071, is up 12.66 percent from the $2,726 reimbursed a year ago. For 2009, sales tax revenue in Streetman rose 48.82 percent, from $22,795 to $33,926.

In Anderson county, sales tax revenue drops 20.68 percent this month to $439,826 from $554,555 last December. Payments this year dropped 8.42 percent, from $6.7 million to $6.1 million.

Communities in Leon county receive checks totaling $114,133 this month, down 11.51 percent from the $128,980 reimbursed last December. For the year, payments rose 1.15 percent, from $1.45 million to $1.46 million.

Reimbursements in Limestone county total $245,007 this month, down 11.13 percent from the $275,719 received last December. Payments this year dropped 1.99 percent, from $3.5 million to $3.4 million.

Navarro county communities receive checks this month totaling $405,127, down 5.69 percent from the December 2008 reimbursement of $429,583. For the year, payments in Navarro county dropped 6.17 percent, from $5.7 million to $5.3 million.

Largest payment this month, $14.5 million, goes to Houston and reflects a 16.94 percent decrease from last December. Reimbursements this year fell 3.05 percent in Houston, to $489 million.

Dallas is reimbursed $14.5 million this month, a drop of 5.3 percent from December 2008. Payments for 2009 fell 9.52 percent, to $205.5 million.