NEWS RELEASE
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
For immediate release

APRIL REVENUE COLLECTIONS
ABOVE PRIOR YEAR AND ESTIMATE

(OKLAHOMA CITY) General Revenue Fund collections for the month of April were above prior year receipts and the Office of State Finance’s estimate, state finance officials reported today.

Preliminary reports show General Revenue Fund collections for April totaled $553.2 million. That amount was:

“Revenue collections once again outperformed the prior year and the estimate in April,” Scott Meacham, Director of the Office of State Finance, said, “indicating the state’s economy is continuing to grow and create jobs and economic opportunity.”

The only surprise in the April collection figures is the gross production tax on natural gas, which came in below the prior year and estimate in April. “This appears to be a one time occurrence,” Meacham said. “Filings for gross production tax refunds spiked last month, increasing from $7.6 million in April 2004 to $19.2 million this year. I anticipate this is a temporary situation and net gross production tax collections will again be above both the prior year and the estimate in the near future.”

Overall, year-to-date collections are now $328.6 million over the estimate to-date. “That means,” Meacham said, “we are nearly assured of making the maximum allowable deposit into the state’s Rainy Day Fund. Our current Rainy Day Fund balance stands at just over $217.5 million. The Constitutional limit on Rainy Day Fund deposits dictates that the most we can deposit into the fund is $243.8 million. The year-to-date surplus is nearly $85 million over this amount and could reach as high as $200 million by the end of the fiscal year.”

Deposits to the Constitutional Reserve or Rainy Day Fund occur at the end of the fiscal year when collections exceed the estimate. Article 10, Section 23 of the State Constitution directs that revenue in excess of the estimate is to be deposited into the Rainy Day Fund until the balance of the fund is 10 percent of the prior year certified General Revenue Fund collections. The FY-2004 General Revenue Fund collections of $4,613 million were certified by the Board of Equalization at the December 2004 meeting.

Net income taxes produced $350.9 million, which was $29.5 million or 9.2 percent above the prior year and $48.4 million or 16.0 percent above the estimate.

Individual returns produced $317.8 million, which was $20.0 million or 6.7 percent above the prior year and $36.8 million or 13.1 percent above the estimate. Corporate income tax receipts totaled $33.1 million, which was $9.5 million or 40.5 percent more than the prior year and $11.7 million or 54.5 percent over the estimate.

The state sales tax produced $114.9 million for the month, which was $4.3 million or 3.9 percent above the prior year and $3.6 million or 3.2 percent above the estimate.

The gross production taxes on natural gas yielded 22.5 million for the month, which was $13.7 million or 37.9 percent below the prior year and $1.4 million or 5.7 percent below the estimate.

Motor vehicle taxes produced $18.7 million, which was $0.8 million or 4.0 percent below the prior year and $0.6 million or 3.1 percent above the estimate.

Other revenue produced $46.2 million for the month of April. This was $7.8 million or 20.2 percent above the prior year and $5.7 million or 14.2 percent above the estimate.