MEDC Boasts RGV’s Top Sales Tax Revenue
The City of Mission is leading the region in retail sales tax revenue, according to a report provided by the Mission Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to the council on Monday.
MEDC CEO Teclo Garcia said the citrus city is ranked number one in the Rio Grande Valley in sales tax revenue for the month of February.
“The sales tax growth in Mission was 27.6 percent in February,” Garcia said. “The closest to us was San Juan with 25 percent, and Pharr with 22.6 percent.”
McAllen posted a 12.3 percent sales tax increase in the same month, while Edinburg gained 14 percent, Garcia’s report showed.
“We compare ourselves to the Valley’s larger cities,” Garcia told the Progress Times. “For example, a new convenience store opening in La Feria might create a spike for one month there, but we are consistent in our comparisons each month to similar cities.”
The report showed Mission’s February 2025 sales tax revenue brought in $3,319,352. The EDC’s share is $719,629, which Garcia will put back in the pot to contribute to the continued promotion of the city’s advantages and resources.
Garcia also told a success story for Mission’s job growth outlook as Ubiquity created 100 new jobs in the last 30 days. Headquartered in New York City with locations worldwide, Ubiquity opened its Mission location just over a year ago
“And they’re going to hire 100 more in the next four weeks,” Garcia said. “Ubiquity is more than a call center. They do federal government contracts; they do large business contracts, and they do health care.”
Ubiquity’s Mission site director Chris Engstrom sent a pre-recorded video message to city leadership.
“We like the workforce here and we like Mission,” Engstrom said. “We are hiring another 100 people in the next 30 days, partly because of the MEDC. We’ll continue to hire after that, so we hope people will come by our office or fill out an application online.”
The MEDC provides space to Ubiquity to train their new workforce at no cost, Garcia said. He now has his fishing pole back in the water, trying to attract more big fish to the area, and chose to focus on San Luis Potosi. He travels there regularly to advance his objectives.
“Our strategy has always been to develop an economic development relationship with San Luis Potosi,” Garcia said. “It’s not a sister city and good feelings kind of thing.
“San Luis Potosi has hundreds of multi-national companies located there,” Garcia said. “They have Goodyear, BMW, GM, Cummins Diesel; they have so many Germans there that they have a German chamber (of commerce).
“Monterrey is focused on using Laredo and those bridges to cross their goods,” Garcia continued. “So, we have to focus where the other cities are not. We chose San Luis Potosi because of their truck patterns and manufacturing facilities.”
Garcia said the governor in the San Luis Potosi area is encouraging manufacturers there to use the Anzalduas Bridge and invest in Mission and McAllen.
“Many of them didn’t even know the Anzalduas Bridge existed,” Garcia said. “These things take time, but we’re going in the right direction, and we want to start reaping that traffic.”
There could be a speed bump ahead for the MEDC as President Donald Trump has announced he will impose tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China. The global companies on Garcia’s radar such as German-based BMW, produce cars in San Luis Potosi that are sold in the US, and it could be hit hard by the new tax.
Mexico is the top supplier of refrigerators, air conditioners, delivery trucks, fruits and vegetables and also sends petroleum, furniture, mattresses and medical equipment across its border to the US.
The president has since announced he will delay tariffs on goods from Mexico until April 2.
“This isn’t an anti-Trump thing,” Garcia said. “It’s an anti-tariff thing, and these methods are creating a lot of uncertainty. We’re going to continue to be strategic and chase everything we can.”
