General revenue fund collections, 03/2011

              Office of State Finance - March 2011 Revenue Collections Outpace Prior Year, Estimate
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Home / News / March 2011 Revenue Collections Outpace Prior Year, Estimate
News Release
PRESTON L. DOERFLINGER
Secretary of Finance and Revenue
OSF Director
MARY FALLIN
Governor
April 11, 2011
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
RON JENKINS
Public Information Officer
Oklahoma Office of State Finance
(405) 521-3267
MARCH REVENUE COLLECTIONS OUTPACE PRIOR YEAR, ESTIMATE
OKLAHOMA CITY — General Revenue Fund tax collections are inching closer to pre-recession levels nine months into the
current fiscal year, Office of State Finance Director Preston Doerflinger said Monday.
For March, total General Revenue Fund collections surpassed last year’s receipts for the same month by $37.3 million and the
estimate by $42 million, Doerflinger announced in releasing his monthly revenue report.
"All major tax collection categories continue to do well, but sales tax revenues are especially encouraging because year-to-date
collections from this source are currently outpacing pre-recession collections for the first 9 months of FY-2008 by 1.2 percent,"
he said.
"Overall, total year-to-date collections this year have now come within 15 percent of meeting total collection numbers through
March 2008 before the recession impacted Oklahoma," Doerflinger said.
At one point during the current fiscal year, total collections were down 20 percent from the totals prior to the recession.
"If gross production tax collections based on often unpredictable oil and natural gas prices are removed from the equation, we
are within 12 percent of pre-recession receipts," Doerflinger commented.
All major tax collection categories for March increased over the same month a year ago. Sales taxes, a strong indicator of
economic activity, were up 11.2 percent from March 2010 and ran 3.9 percent higher than the estimate. For the year, sales
taxes are up 10.4 percent from the prior year.
The revenue report shows that General Revenue Fund collections totaled $438.5 million in March, according to preliminary
calculations. That amount was:
$37.3 million or 9.3 percent above the same month one year ago; and $42 million or 10.6 percent above the estimate for
the month.
Doerflinger, Oklahoma’s secretary of finance, said high oil prices continue to produce money for the state’s General Revenue
Fund at a pace of 188 percent more than in FY-2008. Natural gas prices remain low, dragging down tax collections from that
revenue source.
Although the OSF report shows that personal income tax collections for March of this year dropped from March 2010,
Doerflinger said he was not overly concerned because Tax Commission reports indicate unusually large withholding collections
last year, coupled with higher refunds this year for the same time period.
Doerflinger added, "Income tax collections tend to ebb and flow from month to month, but so far this year they appear to be
in line with a recovering economy. However, it will be a slow process to completely rebound from such a deep recession."
For the year, personal income taxes are $93 million or 8.3 percent above the estimate and $23 million or 2 percent above the
prior year. Corporate income taxes are also above both last year and the estimate.
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