Mike Smith
El Rito Media
msmith@currentargus.com

Eddy County collected $5.9 million in sales taxes for October, finance director Roberta Gonzales reported during the county commissioners meeting Dec. 3.

Gonzales said the total was $2.1 million more than October 2023.

Oil and gas tax collections for October were $7.8 million, Gonzales reported.

“We’re up almost $4 million from last fiscal year,” she said.

October’s oil and gas tax receipts represent July business activity, she said. “For July’s business activity, we collected 26 million barrels (of oil) at about $76 a barrel.”

Gonzales said the county’s tax revenue from the oil and gas industry is based on West Texas Intermediate sweet crude oil prices.

“They are the most accurate with (the) current landscape in Eddy County,” she said.

As of Dec. 3, Gonzales said, the county was taxing an average of 24.5 million barrels of oil a month at a price of $78 per barrel.

Oil and gas tax collections could increase in Eddy County between now and the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year on June 30, Gonzales said.

The county has budgeted $5 million per month in revenue from oil and gas taxes, she said, except for December when $14 million was budgeted.

Gonzales said the additional revenue in December is generated by oil and gas equipment taxes not budgeted in other months.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com.