State tax revenues up 10.1% in May
Associated Press
State general fund tax revenues in May jumped 10.1 percent over May 2003, pushing revenue growth through 11 months of the fiscal year to 7.9 percent, the Department of Taxation reported yesterday.
That compares with the 5.2 percent fiscal year growth that had been forecast by the state's Council on Revenues — the figure on which the state's budget and spending plan are based.
The year-end revenue growth reported in early July is expected to be under the 7.9 percent cumulative figure because June's tax take will compare to June 2003, which was inflated because of a weekend effect on collections.
Because May 2003 ended on a Saturday, the payment deadline was pushed to June 2, meaning a lot of May's revenues were counted in the June total last year.
Other factors were a slowdown in refunds and the delay of transferring certain bank franchise tax revenues due in June until July, a tax official said.
This May's surge resulted from a nearly $34 million jump in personal and corporate income tax collections over May 2003.
That offset the 6 percent decline this May in general excise and use tax revenues that put the 11-month growth in that category at 5.3 percent.
Francis Okano, the department's research and planning officer, said the drop in the excise and use tax take in May is viewed as "as a monthly quirk" in part attributable to one fewer working day this May than in May 2003.
"It's one of those erratic things that sometimes happen on a month-to-month basis," he said. "Overall, the economy remains to be strong."
General excise and use taxes reflect business activity and account for about half of the total take. Hotel room tax revenues, although they don't go into the state general fund, were up 5.2 percent through May.
The department reported May's general fund collections at $288.46 million, putting the 11-month total at $3.08 billion. Excise and use taxes in May totaled $124.2 million (down from $132 million in May 2003) and put the total through May at $1.62 billion.
