Los Fresnos News

Los Fresnos Economy Keeps Showing a Positive Picture

Some of the retailers that contribute to the good economy of Los Fresnos. Photo: Tony Vindell/LFN

by Tony Vindell/LFN

The economy of Los Fresnos has been experiencing a steady growth and it will continue the trend as a new fiscal year begins taking its course.

City Manager Mark Milum said the city ended its 2017-18 fiscal year with an increase of 6 percent in its sales tax allocations from the Texas comptroller’s office.

“We are starting a new (fiscal) year,” he said during the Monday. Oct. 1 meeting of the Community Development Corp board of directors. “We are good to go.”

Milum said EDC collected $27,000 in sales tax allocations.

The entity keeps half percent of the 2 percent the city collects from the tax allocation and the $27,000 figure is the amount EDC received for FY 2017-18.

For example, the comptroller’s office collected $124,334 in September, compared to $121,504 during the same month in 2017 – an increase of 2.32 percent.

For the year-to-date figure, the state agency collected $1,079,133, compared to $1,008,241 the prior year – a hike of 7.03 percent.

Such increases vary from month to month, averaging 6 percent over a 12 month period.

The September figures issued by the comptroller’s office reflect sales tax allocations from two months earlier, or during July.

In other business, the board approved three grants as economic incentives to two businesses, totaling $5,950.

Shaila’s Boutique received $825 for a sign and Divine Crossfit got $5,125 for a sign and for landscaping.

It’s a EDC policy to provide such incentives allocating only 50 percent of the cost of a project like the two businesses applied for.

Desi Martinez, the EDC economic liaison, told the board that Texas Southmost College and the Los Fresnos school district are working on a project to start a new training course.

He said at this point no decision has been made about that but chances are it could be something in the technical field.

Board president Enrique Suarez hinted about the possibility of a welding course, particularly since Amfels announced recently it has a multi-million-dollar contract with LNG and will hire several hundred welders at its yard at the Port of Brownsville.

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