State revenue jumps for May

Income passes expectations by 20%

Deposits into Oklahoma’s general revenue fund continued their stunning rebound in May, with the state taking in $109.7 million more tax dollars than it did in the same month last year.

Increases in corporate and personal income tax collections helped the state collect 28.3 percent more than in May 2017. That was nearly 20 percent above projections used in preparing the budget.

The state has collected $5.2 billion in general fund revenues over the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, which is $730.8 million, or 16.3 percent, more than it collected in the first 11 months of the previous fiscal year. It’s also $317.9 million, or 6.5 percent, above the year-to-date estimate used in preparing the budget.

The general revenue fund is largely used by lawmakers as a discretionary fund for appropriations. With those purse strings, the Legislature funds state agencies and priorities legislators support.

According to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the general revenue fund brought in close to $500 million last month, which was 19.8 percent above what forecasters expected as lawmakers prepared to craft this year’s budget.

Gross production, motor vehicle and other tax collections all showed major increases.

“The last time we exceeded the estimate by a similar amount was August of 2016, and that was due to anomalies in collections,” said OMES Director Denise Northrup. “Obviously, this is good news and I’m pleased to see a strong showing that can largely be attributed to the state’s continued economic recovery.”

Both corporate and personal incomes taxes had solid returns for the month, OMES reported. Neither group of taxpayers filed the kinds of refund requests that normally dip into those sources.

“We had lower refunds than expected, and that kind of skews the number,” said OMES spokeswoman Shelley Zumwalt. “An important thing to keep in mind is those refunds might show up

next month.”

Although Oklahoma has seen an overall rise in collections from some higher tax rates levied on taxpayers, Zumwalt said some tax increases are earmarked for specific purposes and do not show up in the general revenue fund.

Gross production tax collections so far this fiscal year are below the estimate, but for May alone were 45.7 percent above the estimate. A new rate of 5 percent on oil and gas wells will kick in July 1.

As state government’s main operating fund, the general revenue fund is considered the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status. Collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. For the budget beginning next month, lawmakers appropriated 7.5 billion.

Collections at the end of each year that come in over the estimate are deposited into the Rainy Day Fund.