|
|
| |
| Fri, Dec. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
State revenues fall 6.2 percent but beat forecasted levels Wednesday, Jun 4, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - State revenues did not fall as much as predicted in May but dipped well below collections a year ago, state fiscal officers reported Tuesday. Net available general revenues totaled $296 million in May, $4.2 million, or $12 million, above forecast for the month but were $19.5 million - 4.2 percent - below revenues for May 2007. Decreases in individual income tax collections and corporate income tax collections were the largest drag on overall revenues, the state's chief fiscal officer. Corporate income tax collections totaled $3.9 million, down $16.2 million, or 80.5 percent, compared to May 2007 and $18.3 million, or 82.4 percent, below forecast. "We expected a slowdown there," said Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration. "It slowed down maybe a little more than we expected, but at this point I don't have any big concern about it for the long term." Individual income tax collections totaled $184.8 million, down $6.6 million, or 3.4 percent, compared to last year. Collections were $11.5 million, or 6.7 percent, above forecast. Individual withholding, the largest component of individual income, rose $1.2 million over last year, a positive sign for the state's economic stability, Weiss said. Overall, the decreases validated the reasoning behind the $107 reduction in the state's budget for the upcoming fiscal year that officials announced in May, Weiss said. Sales tax collections of $176.7 million were only $1.9 million, or 1 percent, below collections in May of last year, despite sales tax reductions enacted July 1, 2007. Collections were $10.6 million, or 6.4 percent above forecast. Strong performance in this category was mainly because of large, one-time sales tax receipts on manufacturing equipment and supplies, Weiss said. Tobacco tax collections, a smaller component of general revenue, totaled $11.7 million, up 9.1 percent compared to May 2007. On the year, net available general revenues total $4.04 billion, up $30.4 million, or 0.8 percent, compared to the same point in time last year and above forecast $12 million, or 0.3 percent. June is the last month in the state's fiscal year. |
