General revenue fund collections, 09/2012

              Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) - General Revenue Collections Pick Up in September; Three Top Tax Categories Up Over Previous Year
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Home / News / General Revenue Collections Pick Up in September; Three Top Tax Categories Up Over Previous Year
News Release
PRESTON L. DOERFLINGER
Secretary
of Finance and Revenue
MARY FALLIN
Governor
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
RON JENKINS
Public Information Officer
Oklahoma Office of State Finance
(405) 521-3267
General Revenue Collections Pick Up in September;
Three Top Tax Categories Up Over Previous Year
OKLAHOMA CITY – General Revenue Fund collections swung back to positive territory in September, easily topping projections
and receipts for the same month a year ago, state Finance Secretary Preston L. Doerflinger announced Tuesday.
"Three of the four major contributors to the General Revenue Fund—combined income, sales and motor vehicle taxes—showed
growth in September," Doerflinger said. "The Oklahoma economy has been on a roll the past two years and this report
indicates to me that our recovery from the recession is still ongoing."
Total collections to the General Revenue Fund for the month of September were $541.9 million, up $15.6 million and 3
percent from a year ago. The amount collected for the month was $19.3 million and 3.7 percent higher than the estimate.
Gov. Mary Fallin was pleased with the latest GRF report. "With three of the four major contributors to the General Revenue
Fund on the rise, it's another positive sign Oklahoma's economy is on the right track," Fallin said. "Our state continues to have
one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, while ranking among the top job-creating states. By focusing on pro-growth
policies, we'll be more able to keep Oklahoma's economic momentum moving forward."
The September report contrasted with the GRF report in August, when total receipts declined by 6.8 percent from the previous
year due mainly to lower natural gas tax and income tax receipts.
"This illustrates perfectly why it's unfortunate that some read too much into variances in GRF tax receipts from month to
month," Doerflinger said. "For instance, income tax collections are often unpredictable because of a number of factors such as
the amount of rebates, timing of remittances and number of collection days in a particular month."
Doerflinger said the uninformed might look at the small amount of oil and natural gas taxes accruing to the General Revenue
Fund and conclude wrongly that there was little activity in the Oklahoma oil patch.
He pointed out that the GRF never receives any money at the start of a fiscal year from oil taxes because the first $150
million in oil tax receipts are earmarked to education funds.
"As for lagging natural gas tax collections this quarter, the GRF is losing nearly as much money due to expiration of the
moratorium on energy tax credits as it is losing because of prices," Doerflinger said. "Fortunately, strong tax collections in
other areas are making up for those losses."
The secretary of finance said the Oklahoma Department of Commerce's latest Economic Snapshot report shows Oklahoma
continues to be second among the states in manufacturing job growth and now has 3,000 more jobs overall than before the
recession.
"Since Gov. Fallin took office, we've gained more than 59,000 jobs, including 12,300 in manufacturing. Personal income is
rising and our unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in August was the fourth lowest in the country," Doerflinger said.
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