Sales tax up 28%, data centers boom as Abilene eyes $40 million surplus

By Bruce Campbell

Sales tax revenue income to the City of Abilene for the first five months of 2026 are up 28% over the same period for 2025, according to the Texas State Comptrollers Office records.  Average monthly sales tax allocations for Abilene of over $7 million this year are 160% of what they had been averaging for calendar years 2021-2024.

Marjorie Knight, Director of Finance for the City of Abilene, recently reported during a city council budget planning workshop that commercial personal property tax income for the city shows a 174% increase from previous years, with as much as $1 billion of commercial personal property assessments resulting from new data center inventories.

“Data Center valuations are a very important financial consideration for the city,” now contributing about 15.4% of the city’s tax base, Knight said.

During the same meeting on May 20, Abilene City Manager Emily Crawford announced that the Double Tree Hotel downtown next to the Abilene Convention Center is now operating self-sufficiently.  That is, the hotel is now able to cover its monthly expenses including debt service without being subsidized by the city. Although an inquiry to the city officials about the cause of the hotel’s independence has not received a response, it could be assumed that the sharp increase in hotel/motel occupancy rates in Abilene has been the main contributory factor.

An additional information request for details about how the city officials plan to use the excess tax income of as much as $40 million this year has yet to receive a response.