Round Rock Sees 'Big' Economic Recovery From COVID-19 Pandemic

Round Rock TX

06 December, 2021

12:42 PM

Description

ROUND ROCK, TX — Following the coronavirus pandemic, the city of Round Rock has seen a "big" economic recovery, according to city officials. Round Rock Chief Financial Officer Susan Morgan said in a Dec. 2 council meeting that the city has surpassed pre-pandemic revenue levels, according to a recent quarterly financial and investment report. "From a revenue standpoint, activity standpoint, it is back to - not just back to pre-pandemic levels, a lot of areas have far exceeded pre-pandemic levels," she said. "We have seen a very robust recovery. Most of the economic reports out there are expecting that to continue. we are expecting that to continue locally, unless something changes." The city collected more than $84 million in sales tax in the last fiscal year, nearly $13 million more than what the city anticipated, the report states. The extra income will reportedly go toward financing city infrastructure. "We are a heavily sales-tax-based city. And when people feel good about things, they buy stuff, and then that helps our revenue, so that's something that we pay very close attention to," Morgan said. Morgan said the city's unemployment rate is also reaching pre-pandemic levels, sitting at about 3.3 percent in September. Before the pandemic reached Central Texas, the city was at 3 percent. The financial officer also said the city continues monitoring factors that could impact revenue including rising COVID-19 cases, inflation, labor shortages and supply chain issues. Morgan added that the city ended the fiscal year well, with expenditures all within the approved budget. See the full report review from council's meeting here.