As the national and regional economies lag, the latest sales tax figures released by the State Comptroller's office Friday show Nacogdoches is holding stable — good news, according to local economic officials.

Countywide receipts this month totaled $561,289, up 0.23 percent from last year and 1.55 percent overall for the year. The city of Nacogdoches received $550,651 in rebates this month, up 0.97 percent from May 2007 and up 2.52 percent over last year.

Comparable cities like Lufkin, Huntsville, San Augustine and Jasper all saw decreases in sales tax revenue this period, an unfortunate fact that underscores Nacogdoches' relative stability in troubled times.

"We're stable, and in today's economy and what's going on all around us, stable is a very good thing," said Donna Maisel, vice president of the Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation.

Though the numbers throughout 2008 have been nearly flat on average, Maisel said the county is still sitting well after an extraordinary year last year. "That's still a positive. We're up 2.5 percent over a good year last year."

Maisel offered several explanations for Nacogdoches' resiliency in troubled economic times. The university often serves as an anchor, she said, as does continued oil and gas activity, which brings a steady stream of consumable purchases in and around town. Maisel also said stability could be a sign people are traveling out of town less often due to high gas prices.

Deputy City Manager Victoria LaFollett-Koenig said she anticipates similarly flat sales tax figures in future months, and that the city has revised its expectations accordingly.

"Taken in context with the overall national economy, we would anticipate local sales receipts will probably continue that trend," she wrote in an e-mail message. "Even so, our projections indicate the city should still close out the current fiscal year ahead of budgeted sales tax revenues by about $300,000."

According to State Comptroller Susan Combs, statewide tax collections were down 1.7 percent this period compared to the same period last year.

"This was a slight decrease compared to the dramatic growth seen in April 2007," Combs said in a statement. "For the eight months of fiscal 2888 to date, state sales tax collections are up 6 percent compared to the previous year."

The next sales tax allocation will be made on Friday, June 13.