State tax revenues up 29.2% in April

Advertiser Staff

The concrete strike did not appear to blunt the growth in state tax revenues during April, according to the latest monthly figures released by the state Department of Taxation yesterday.

The state collected $300.7 million in April, a 29.2 percent increase from tax revenues in April 2003.

Tax Director Kurt Kawafuchi noted there was an unusually low amount of collections in estimated tax and payments with returns in April 2003. However, revenues are now running about 7.7 percent higher for the fiscal year, which ends June 30, than in fiscal year 2003.

The Council on Revenues, which makes the forecasts on which the state budget is based, projected in March that growth for the year would be 5.2 percent. The higher numbers could mean the state general fund will start the new fiscal year with more money than anticipated when the state budget was passed several weeks ago.

Kawafuchi pointed out that strong growth in other sectors of the economy appeared to completely offset any slowdown that may have been caused by the concrete strike, which began Feb. 10. Ameron workers went back to work in early April after about eight weeks off the job; the Hawaiian Cement strike ended in March.