Weekend deadline cited for drop in tax collections

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief

State tax collections dropped sharply last month, but state tax director Marie Okamura said the decline was mostly caused by a long Labor Day weekend that delayed collection of some taxes owed to the state.

Tax collections for last month were down by 17 percent from the previous year, but Okamura said that was mostly because the end of the month fell on a weekend.

That meant that taxes normally due the last day of August could instead be paid on the first business day in September.

That pushed millions of dollars in tax collections from August to September, meaning those collections do not appear on the August tax collections statistics.

Thus far in the fiscal year that began July 1, the state general treasury has collected almost $520 million in taxes, which is about 3.3 percent less than was collected in the first two months of last year.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said he will be briefed on the budget situation later this week, but is not inclined to impose new budget cuts.

"Right now I'm not going to recommend any kind of severe restrictions," he said. "I've had enough of that."

In particular, Cayetano said he will not impose major restrictions on education or social services.