Arkansas general revenue collections of $425.8 million were almost 3% above expectations in July and 5% higher than in July 2009.
The Department of Finance and Administration said July marked the third month in a row that year-to-year collections were up.
July’s revenue set a record for the month, besting the $422.6 million collected in July 2008.
Department director Richard Weiss said monthly collections have risen from previous-year totals only seven times in the past 20 months.
Collections were up in the three major categories — individual and corporate income taxes and gross receipts taxes — for the first time since October 2008, according to Weiss.
Gross receipts taxes, which include sales and use taxes, brought in $188.3 million during the first month of the state’s fiscal year.
The total is almost $5 million more than expected and $15.4 million more than collected in July 2009.
Individual income taxes totaled $181.2 million in July, $7.4 million more than in July 2009 and $3.4 million above expectations.
The corporate income tax generated $23 million, or $1.6 million above the official estimate.
The state expects general revenues to total $5.67 billion in fiscal 2011, up $241 million from fiscal 2010.
General revenue accounts for 20% of the total state budget of $25 billion in the current fiscal year.
It does not include dedicated sources such as federal funds, motor fuel taxes, or higher education fees and tuition payments.
