Revenues Revised Down

The state Board of Equalization will meet today to certify final revenue estimates for fiscal 2009 developed by the Oklahoma Tax Commission that indicates the state will have $195 million less in revenues than was estimated in December.

The board’s official estimates are used to develop the state’s fiscal 2009 budget.

The latest revenue figures show corporate income taxes $101.8 million below the December prediction. In fiscal 2009, which begins July 1, revenue from the state’s income tax on individuals is now expected to be $65.5 million below the earlier estimate.

In December the board estimated the Legislature would have $32 million in additional funds to allocate in fiscal 2009, but Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham said the latest numbers indicate the state might have to dip into the $572 million budget stabilization fund for the first time in five years.

Meacham said preliminary reports show general revenue fund collections for January totaled $538.3 million, $38.5 million less than in January 2007 and $257 million below the estimate.

“Oklahoma’s economy is obviously growing at a slower rate than during the past few years,” Meacham said. “Year-to-date, our collections exceed the estimate but by less than 2%.”

Collections for the month in three of the four major tax categories — income, gross production, and sales taxes — failed to meet the estimate, and income and gross production collections were less than in 2007.

Personal and corporate income taxes generated $259.2 million in January, which was $39.7 million, or 13.3%, below January 2007 and $20.5 million, or 7.3%, below the estimate.

The state sales tax produced $137.5 million in January, which was $5.3 million more than in January 2007 but $5.4 million below the estimate.

“Based on the magnitude of the numbers that we got from the Tax Commission, it appears to me that we will see a decrease in appropriations authority, not just from December but from last year,” Meacham said.

House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, said the revenue drop was unfortunate but not a surprise.

“It is something we have been watching and will continue to be cautious as we begin budget negotiations this session,” he said. “This will simply mean we must continue to search out ways to make government more efficient and find savings where we can.”

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