Sales tax revenue in Texas falls sharply amid coronavirus, oil downturns

The financial pain from the coronavirus for state and local governments is just beginning.

State sales tax revenue in April totaled about $2.6 billion, a 9.3% decline from revenue in April 2019, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

“State sales tax collections declined as a result of efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19 through business closures, crowd limits and stay-at-home orders adopted in the state, as well as a precipitous drop in worldwide demand for oil,” Texas Comptroller…