GRAPHIC BY BONNIE LEESE Most cities in the surrounding counties show sales tax gains in August, and those that didn't -- Burnet, Lampasas and Gatesville -- had only slight declines this month. Only three Central Texas-area cities saw a dip in their sales tax returns this month, but unfortunately one entity was the city of Lampasas. None of the declines were very steep, however.

Lampasas, along with Gatesville, posted a 3 percent drop in August. The other neighboring city with a sales tax decrease this period was Burnet, whose payment was down just 1 percent.

State Comptroller Susan Combs reported that across Texas, August sales tax allocations dropped 6.5 percent compared to the same month last year.

August tax rebates represent sales taxes collected in June by businesses that file monthly reports with the comptroller, plus taxes collected for April, May and June sales by quarterly filers.

Although Lampasas received 113,194, down from the 116,124 it garnered in August 2008, the city remains 2 percent ahead in 2009 cumulative payments. Thus far it holds $846,138 in sales tax receipts, compared to $827,298 through eight months of last year.

Kempner and Lometa posted solid returns in August, as both had double-digit gains.

For the year, Kempner has a sales tax total of $77,774 -- up 7 percent over 2008 -- while Lometa can boast a 20 percent increase in sales taxes to date at $36,264.

Lampasas County remains 2 percent ahead of last year with cumulative sales tax returns of $386,993, yet its August rebate was a mere $89 more than it received for the same month last year.

The county's check this period for $54,087 brings its 2009 yearto date total to $386,993.

Among cities in the surrounding counties, Evant recorded the highest percentage gain in August at 19 percent. Its sales tax payments are running 11 percent ahead of 2008 through the first eight months.

By contrast, Evant's neighbor Hamilton shows a 4 percent de- crease on the year. Its sales tax returns have fallen below last year's payments in five of the last eight months.

San Saba posted an 11 percent increase in August, but its 2009 cumulative payments show only a 0.4 percent gain over last year with a current-year total of $219,730.

In Mills County, the city of Goldthwaite had its sales tax receipts rise 5 percent this month, but it, too, reflects a negligible increase over 2008. Through August it has collected $179,379 -- just $215 more than it garnered for the same period last year.

Copperas Cove took in sales tax revenue of $356,717 in August for a 3 percent gain. Its cumulative total has slipped slightly below that of 2008, however, at $2.36 million. Through eight months last year, Copperas Cove's total stood at $2.37 million.

Marble Falls was the only other area city to record an increase in August. Its rebate of $634,008 was up almost 2 percent from the $624,236 it received in August 2008. For the year, its sales taxes now top $4.17 million, but they fall short of the $4.23 million it earned last year to this point.

In addition to their monthly payments being down this month, Burnet and Gatesville both trail in year-to-date collections. Burnet has an eight-month total of $1.02 million in 2009, down 5 percent from last year, and Gatesville's $1.04 million total is off 2 percent from the $1.06 million it had received through August of 2008.