LOS ANGELES — California revenues of $6.52 billion for February were $772.7 million, or 10.6%, lower than projections in the governor's proposed 2017-18 budget – about the same amount that revenues beat projections in January.
The month-to-month fluctuations have not developed a clear pattern, according to State Controller Betty Yee, who
"The variance can often be as simple as one large payment due on the first of the month being recorded on the last day of the prior month," the controller's office said in the release.
Over the last three months revenues missed projections in February, beat forecasts in January and were below expected numbers in December.
January revenues beat projections by $747 million, but the state was still $9 million off the $68.5 billion forecast for the fiscal year to date, according to data from the California Department of Finance. As of February, total revenues of $73.3 billion for the first eight months of the fiscal year are $881.1 million below projections in the governor's 2017-18 budget, according to Yee's cash report.
The three largest sources of California revenue — personal income taxes, corporation taxes, and retail sales and use taxes — all missed projections in February.
Personal income taxes missed projections in February by $5.3 million coming in at $3.1 billion. Corporation tax receipts at $168.2 million were off by 35%. Sales tax receipts were off by 18.8% coming in at $3.06 billion.
The state ended February with unused borrowable resources of $27.4 billion, which was $3.3 billion more than predicted in the governor's proposed budget. Outstanding loans of $13.5 billion were $628.3 million higher than project in early January.
