(II) Sales tax notes:
Texas has a gross receipts tax that is levied in addition to its 6.25% sales tax. It is called the franchise tax and the rate is 1% (.5% for retailers).
c = Only cities with populations between 8,500 and 50,000 were eligible for this year's Best Places to Live list.
Using statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small towns for families. (Last year, we looked at small cities, with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.)
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