State Budget Director John Hicks reported Friday that December’s General Fund receipts reflected the second-highest monthly total ever, $1,258,755,431, a 16.1 percent increase compared to December of last year.
Total revenues rose by $174.4 million over last December, with increases in all the major taxes: individual income, sales, business and property taxes. December is one of the three largest months for tax receipts, representing about 10 percent of the year’s total revenues.
Receipts have now risen 5.6 percent for the first half of the fiscal year, and can decline by 2.7 percent over the last half to meet the recently adopted official revenue estimate of $11,729.0 million.
John Hicks
“December’s receipts are much stronger than expected given the high level of unemployment, the expiration of several federal relief programs, and the social distancing measures still affecting consumer behavior,” Hicks said. “Revenue collections are ahead of the recent revised forecast. It is expected that receipts for the rest of the fiscal year should compare favorably to the new revenue estimate since the impact of the recently passed federal relief bill was not factored into the assumptions the Consensus Forecasting Group used in their revenue forecast in early December. Income tax receipts increased by 12.7 percent in December.”
Among the major accounts:
• Individual income tax collections rose 12.7 percent in December with withholding receipts growing by the same percent. Through the first half of FY21, receipts in this tax have increased 5.0 percent.
• Sales and use tax receipts increased 4.2 percent in December. Year-to-date growth is 5.9 percent.
• Corporation income tax receipts surged 95.9 percent over last December, growing 12.0 percent year-to-date. Limited Liability Entity tax (LLET) tax receipts dropped 1.9 percent in December, but are up 30.7 percent year-to-date. Combined, these receipts have risen 17.4 percent in the first half of the fiscal year.
• Property tax collections grew 16.1 percent for the month, reflecting some catch-up due to timing patterns and have risen 3.8 percent year-to-date.
• Cigarette tax receipts rose 13.6 percent in December and are up 0.6 percent for the first half of the fiscal year.
• Coal severance tax receipts declined 21.5 percent in December and are down 11.1 percent year-to-date.
• Lottery revenues grew 7.0 percent in December with a monthly dividend payment of $23 million.
Road Fund receipts for November totaled $121.0 million, a 0.8 percent decline from December 2019 levels. Year-to-date Road Fund receipts have increased 1.3 percent. Based on collections through the first half of the fiscal year, Road Fund receipts must grow 10.7 percent over the second half to meet the newly revised official FY21 estimate of $1,577.7 million. Last fiscal year, Road Fund revenues declined 10.4 percent in the final six months.
Motor fuels tax receipts fell 8.0 percent in December and have decreased 5.1 percent for the year. Motor vehicle usage tax collections rose 8.3 percent in December and have grown 11.2 percent through the first six months of the fiscal year. License and privilege receipts grew 27.4 percent for the month and have risen 3.8 percent for the year.
Office of State Budget Director
