Office of State Finance - November 2004 Revenue Collections

NEWS RELEASE

Tuesday, December 14, 2004
For immediate release

NOVEMBER REVENUE COLLECTIONS
ABOVE PRIOR YEAR, ESTIMATE

(OKLAHOMA CITY) General Revenue Fund collections in November were $23.3 million above prior year receipts for the month and $31.8 million above the estimate, the Office of State Finance reported today.

Preliminary reports show General Revenue Fund collections totaled $358.9 million in November. That amount was:

$23.3 million or 6.9 percent above the same month one year ago; and
$31.8 million or 9.7 percent above the estimate for the month.

“Signs remain very positive for ongoing strength in the state’s economy,” Scott Meacham, Office of State Finance Director said. “The strength in individual income tax collections bodes well for the current state of the economy. Those collections exceeded both the prior year and the estimate for the month of November.”

Sales tax collections for the month of November, which marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, exceeded receipts of one year ago and were just below the estimate.

“While sales tax collections were slightly below the estimate, revenue from this source continued its trend of exceeding that of the prior year,” Meacham said. “I think consumers’ attitudes generally continue to be positive and I would not be surprised to see December collections above both the prior year and estimate.”

Total General Revenue Fund collections year-to-date are $195.4 million above the estimate for the first five months of the fiscal year, Meacham noted. “That gives us a significant cushion in the unlikely event that revenue collections turn downward at some point through the remainder of the fiscal year,” he said. “However, we are very confident that state agencies will not face budget reductions during the current fiscal year.”

Income taxes -- This source yielded $159.6 million for the FY-05 General Revenue Fund, which was $18.0 million or 12.7 percent more than prior year collections from individual and corporate income taxes and $27.9 million or 21.2 percent above the estimate for revenues from the same sources.

Individual income tax receipts of $158.3 million were $16.7 million or 11.8 percent above the prior year and $26.6 million or 20.2 percent above the estimate. The General Revenue Fund received no revenue from corporate returns during the prior year when refunds from this revenue source exceeded collections. This year, corporate income tax collections totaled $1.3 million.

Sales tax -- The state’s number two revenue source produced $107.8 million for the General Revenue Fund, $2.0 million or 1.9 percent more than the prior year but $2.3 million or 2.1 percent below the estimate.

Gross production tax -- This tax on natural gas accounted for $41.0 million in General Revenue Fund receipts, which was $6.7 million or 19.5 percent above the prior year and $10.4 million or 33.9 percent above the estimate.

Motor vehicle taxes -- This source produced $17.3 million, which was $5.1 million or 42.0 percent above the prior year and $2.6 million or 17.4 percent above the estimate.

Other Revenue -- Other revenue produced $32.7 million in November. This was $9.0 million or 21.7 percent below the prior year and $7.2 million or 18.0 percent below the estimate.

The Office of State Finance will conduct a press briefing concerning revenue estimates for FY-06 on December 22 at 4 pm. The briefing will be held in the Office of State Finance’s Large Conference Room in Room 122 of the State Capitol. The estimates will be presented to the Board of Equalization when it meets December 27 at 10:30 am in the Governor’s Large Conference Room.