Final FY 2020 revenue slightly better than expected

Oklahoma's Fiscal Year 2020 general revenue shortfall was not quite as great as expected, officials said Thursday.

The confluence of dropping oil and gas prices and the COVID19 epidemic caused the state in April to project a $416.9 million general revenue failure for the budget year that ended June 30.

After all the nickels and dimes were counted, however, the shortfall was $ 366.6 million, or $ 50.3 million less than expected, according to the Office of Management and

Enterprise Services.

Thursday's announcement came one day after the agency said general revenue for July, the first month of FY 2021, was 9.5% higher than expected.

The general revenue fund is the state's primary operating account.

General revenue for FY 2020 totaled $ 6.27 billion, or $586.8 million less than for FY 2019. A substantial portion of the shortfall is attributed to the postponement of the state income tax deadline from April 15 to July 15, which is in FY 21. The delay has also made yearover- year comparisons difficult.

It also is at least partly responsible for July receipts coming in far above not only the previous year but projections that took the deadline shift into consideration.

However, sales tax receipts, the state's other major source of revenue, also finished July above projections and above the same month a year ago.

"While our state collections are off to a positive start, with gas production collections continuing to encounter headwinds combined with the historic unemployment numbers our state has seen, we must prepare to take a cautious approach in the new fiscal year," said OMES Director Steven Harpe.