South Padre Island left Port Isabel in the dust as it collected $16,332 more in March sales taxes than the city on the mainland.

According to figures released last week by the Texas State Comptroller's Office, the Island town collected $172,740 in sales and use taxes, an 11.36 percent improvement over March 2008.

South Padre's total to date is $707,687, which amounts to 21.75 percent more than the last year-to-date's $581,244.

This figure virtually tied Port Isabel's year-to-date a year ago.

While not as spectacular as the Island's increase, Port Isabel also gained ground over last year.

The total for March was $156,408, 3.77 percent more than last March 2008's $150,778.

Total to date for Port Isabel is $632,610, an 8.73 percent increase over last year's total of $581,771.65.

Laguna Vista and Bayview both went downhill.

Laguna Vista collected $8,894, compared to March 2008's $9,273.

This was a decrease of 4.08 percent. The town is still up for the year to date; however, at $36,582 compared to last year's $35,815 -- a 2.14 percent increase.

Bayview collected $200 for March, 14.36 percent less than last March's $234.

Year to date for Bayview was $1,457.16, a whopping 23.54 percent over the previous year to date.

Spring Break was primarily responsible for South Padre Island's sudden surge.

Merchants had been reporting that even though crowds were smaller sales were better, and the sales tax figures tend to support that viewpoint.