OKLAHOMA CITY — General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections in July were equal to the monthly estimate, while outpacing the prior year collections by 10.7 percent for the first month of the fiscal year.
GRF collections in July totaled $411.4 million, which is equal to the official estimate upon which the fiscal year 2018 appropriated state budget was based and $39.8 million above prior year collections for the month. Collections from gross production taxes were the high performers, but collections from all other major sources lagged.
“While the July estimate was met, both income tax and sales tax came in slightly below the estimate,” Doerflinger said. “Gross production taxes made up the difference to be able to break even, but it should be noted that income and sales tax make up a much larger proportion of general revenue than gross production taxes; so we will be cautious regarding our expectations in those revenue areas.”
Corporate income tax added nothing to this month’s total figure because of high refunds, and it continues to contribute to the volatility of income tax estimates. For six months in FY 17, corporate income taxes failed to contribute to general revenue.
“With the ruling on cigarette fees, other court decisions pending and a special session possible, the full picture has yet to come into focus,” Doerflinger said. “Members of the Legislature should remember that although the monthly estimate was met in July, borrowing from other funds to cash flow monthly allocations continues, and we need actionable progress toward long-term revenue solutions versus continuing a band-aid approach and short-term fixes.”
As state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual appropriated state budget. GRF collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections, reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state before rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.
Doerflinger is director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.
Major tax categories in July contributed the following amounts to the GRF:
- Total income tax collections of $154.9 million were $2.5 million, or 1.6 percent, below the estimate and $2.3 million, or 1.5 percent, above the prior year.
Individual income tax collections comprised the entire deposit to the GRF and were $1.6 million, or 1 percent, above the estimate and $7.7 million, or 5.2 percent, above prior year collections.
Corporate income tax collections were entirely consumed by refunds and contributed nothing to the GRF. - Sales tax collections of $173.2 million were $481,000, or 0.3 percent, below the estimate and $18.4 million, or 11.9 percent, above the prior year.
- Gross production tax collections of $17.6 million were $2.4 million, or 16 percent, above the estimate and $10 million, or 129.5 percent, above the prior year.
Natural gas collections of $15.1 million were $1.6, or 12.2 percent, above the estimate and $8.8 million, or 139.2 percent, above the prior year.
Oil collections of $2.5 million were $790,000, or 44.9 percent, above the estimate and $1.2 million, or 85.3 percent, above the prior year. - Motor vehicle tax collections of $16.8 million were $739,000, or 4.2 percent, below the estimate and $1.1 million, or 7.3 percent, above the prior year.
- Other revenue collections of $48.8 million were $1.1 million, or 2.4 percent, above the estimate and $8 million, or 19.5 percent, above the prior year.
Revenue tables can be viewed on the OMES website: https://www.ok.gov/OSF/News/July_2017_Financial_Report_Data_Tables.html.
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