Following September’s revenue forecast which projected a shrinking of the upcoming 2023-25 biennial budget, state tax collections for the month of September came in slightly higher than expected.
State revenues for the period of September 11th to October 10th came in $126 million or 6.3 percent higher than expected in last month’s forecast, according to the September Economic & Revenue report produced by the state’s Economic & Revenue Forecast Council. The increase was represented by a large increase in Revenue Act collections which includes sales, business and occupation, and utility taxes in addition to interest payments. These revenues were up $131.6 million or 7.4 percent, with $20.5 million or 1.1 percent being from several large tax payments that the ERFC did not anticipate in the last forecast.
While Revenue Act collections were strong, other revenues such as property tax, cigarette tax receipts, and unclaimed property resulted in a decrease of non-Revenue Act collections by $7.1 million or 3.4 percent.
A new revenue forecast will be released later next month, ahead of the governor’s budget proposal release in December before the 2023 legislative session begins in January.