December Christmas season sales were mostly stagnant across Orange County as sales tax collections were down from the year before. The Texas Comptroller's Office has sent sales tax payments to the entities covering December and only the city of Orange beat the inflation rate.

Orange had a 6.97 percent increase for December 2022 compared to December 2021. The county collected 3.19 percent more, while other cities had slight decreases or stayed basically the same.i

The U.S. inflation rate for December 2022 was 6.5 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

Orange County, which has a 0.5 percent sales tax, collected $798,755 for December, compared to $773,991 for the previous December. The county has now collected $1.35 million so far this year, compared to $1.34 last year, an increase of 2 percent.

Bridge City has a 1.5 percent tax rated and received $240,625 for December sales, a decrease of 6.52 percent from the $257,414 for December 21. The city for the year to date has $418,013, a decrease of 3.58 percent from the same time last year.

City of Orange has a 1.5 percent sales tax. The city for December sales received $878,861, an increase of 6.97 percent from $821,535 for December 2021. For the year to date, the city has $1.5 million, up 9.17 percent from the $1.38 million last year.

Pinehurst has a 1.5 percent sales tax and collected $66,772 for December, a decrease of $4,252, or minus 5.99 percent from the previous December with $71,029. The city is down $2,462 for the year to date, a decrease of 2.7 percent. The city now has $119,421 for the year to date, compared to $121,883 last year.

Vidor has a 1.5 percent sales tax and collected $362,130 for December, down 2.55 percent from December 2021 with $371,607. The city now has $623,226 for the year to date, a decrease of 2.7 percent from the $640,564 last year.

West Orange has the lowest city sales tax with a 1.25 percent rate. The city received $148,577 for December, $1,308, or 0.88 percent more than December 2021. The city is up 0.52 percent for the year to date with $266,688, compared to $265,296 for the same time last year.

Orange County Emergency District No. 3 is for the Little Cypress Fire and Rescue Department. It has a 1.5 percent tax rate and is the only special district in the county with a sales tax. For December, the district received $32,952, compared to $28,124 for the previous December. The district has $64,324 for the year to date, compared to $48,619 from last year.