Ten of the 12 Twin Counties-area municipalities saw their sales tax returns decline in November, a bad sign going into the Christmas season.

Only Bruce and Houlka managed to boost their November returns above the previous November's mark.

Regular sales, Christmas open houses and the big day-after-Thanksgiving Christmas shopping helped lift Bruce about $500 above the previous November's collection returns. The continued strength in Bruce business, surprising given the town's size and proximity to other shopping centers, pushed the year's collections more than $9,000 ahead of the previous year's pace.

Houlka returns rebounded significantly from the previous November, rising about $1,650. That gave Houlka a cushion of almost $5,000 over the previous year's collections to date.

Other towns did not fare nearly as well.

Big Creek's collections dropped by more than half in November, leaving the year-to-date returns almost 40 percent below the previous year's collections. Woodland and Derma both fell by more than a quarter, and Vardaman lost about 20 percent from the previous November.

Overall:

- Big Creek - down $475 for the month, down $1,400 for the year.

- Bruce - up $500 for the month, up $9,000 for the year.

- Calhoun City - down $1,400 for the month, down $15,000 for the year.

- Derma - down $1,250 for the month, down $5,500 for the year.

- Houlka - up $1,650 for the month, up $4,700 for the year.

- Houston - down $1,500 for the month, down $800 for the year.

- Mantee - down $300 for the month, down $800 for the year.

- Okolona - down $1,200 for the month, $2,400 for the year.

- Pittsboro - down $85 for the month, down $300 for the year.

- Slate Springs - down $150 for the month, down $650 for the year.

- Vardaman - down $2,100 for the month, down $2,600 for the year.

- Woodland - down $2,300 for the month, down $9,100 for the year.