It appears there are signs of an upswing in sales tax allocations in the 12-county DETCOG Region in the first-quarter of this year, after a downturn was reported in January.

DETCOG Executive Director Walter Diggles says the most recent quarterly figures are showing an 11 percent increase over the same period last year. The increase is the largest first-quarter allocation DETCOG has seen in the last eight years.

Diggles says the 11 percent calculates into a first quarter increase of over $48 million in taxable sales in the region.

Diggles added a plus is that two of the three months taxes in the first quarter allocations came from the Christmas sales period, an economically important period.

To be cautious, Diggles says layoff like the 500 at GE in Lufkin will likely affect the positive in the region.

He adds people need to be careful with their spending and make some personal adjustments.