Posted on: Friday, November 14, 2003

October tax revenues rise 15.6 percent

Advertiser Staff

State tax revenues were up 15.6 percent in October compared with the same month last year, according to figures released by the Department of Taxation yesterday.

The increase indicates that earlier forecasts about the economy are on the mark a quarter of the way through the 2003-04 fiscal year.

The $272.7 million collected last month helped boost the year-to-date revenues for the fiscal year that began July 1 to $1.09 billion, a 3.4 percent increase over a year ago. The state Council on Revenues, which makes the forecasts that the Legislature uses to come up with its budget, projected in September that revenues will wind up 6.2 percent higher over the entire year.

Deposits from general excise and use revenues were up $24.4 million, or 18.9 percent, over October 2002, pushing the cumulative for the year 4.1 percent ahead of last year. Individual income taxes were up $17.6 million, or 21.3 percent, bringing the total to 7.3 percent higher than that in the first quarter of last year.