State: General Revenue collections pick up in April

OKLAHOMA CITY — General Revenue Fund collections in April were $764.3 million and came in at $93.8 million, or 14.0 percent, above the monthly estimate. This amount is $152.5 million, or 24.9 percent, above collections in April of 2017. Total collections over the first 10 months of the fiscal year were $4.7 billion which is $235.6 million, or 5.2 percent, above the year-to-date estimate and $621.0 million, or 15.1 percent, over the year-to-date for 2017.

“April income tax returns certainly drove collections to surpass the estimate, but all reporting categories came in above estimates which is a positive sign,” said Office of Management and Enterprise Services Director Denise Northrup. “Looking toward FY 2019 we should be in a better position than we were last year going into FY 2018.”

Total income tax collections came in at $448.3 million, and were $67.8 million, or 17.8 percent, above the estimate. Gross production tax collections came in above the estimate with $34.8 million in collections, and were $1.9 million, or 5.9 percent, above the estimate. Both natural gas and oil collections from gross production taxes remain below year-to-date estimates.

“After some tough years I’m encouraged to see our economy showing some real resilience. If we continue to see positive returns, I’m hopeful we can replenish the Rainy Day Fund and restore some of the cuts agencies have experienced the past few years,” Northrup said.

“April has traditionally had our strongest returns of the year, and we are tracking close to the 5.5 percent growth estimate made by the Oklahoma Tax Commission in the February Board of Equalization meeting. To be clear, these returns are on point with where we thought we would be this time of year and after months of moderate growth I’m pleased, but not surprised, to see April collections performing well,” Northrup added.

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.

Denise Northrup is the director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.

Major tax categories in April contributed the following amounts to the GRF:

Total income tax collections of $448.3 million were $67.8 million, or 17.8 percent, above the estimate and $88.1 million, or 24.4 percent, above the prior year.
Individual income tax collections of $367.1 million were $21.3 million, or 6.2 percent, above the estimate and $51.3 million, or 16.2 percent, above the prior year.
Corporate income tax collections of $81.2 million were $46.5 million, or 134.2 percent, above the estimate and $36.8 million, or 82.9 percent, above the prior year.
Sales tax collections of $189.3 million were $12.8 million, or 7.3 percent, above the estimate and $26.4 million, or 16.2 percent, above the prior year.
Gross production tax collections of $34.8 million were $1.9 million, or 5.9 percent, above the estimate and $20.5 million, or 143.4 percent, above the prior year.
Natural gas collections of $22.8 million were $1.5 million, or 6.9 percent, above the estimate and $10.8 million, or 89.6 percent, above the prior year.
Oil collections of $11.9 million were $482,000, or 4.2 percent, above the estimate and $9.7 million, or 433.7 percent, above the prior year.
Motor vehicle tax collections of $17.6 million were $0.5 million, or 3.2 percent, above the estimate and $1.4 million, or 8.5 percent, above the prior year.
Other revenue collections of $74.3 million were $10.7 million, or 16.8 percent, above the estimate and $16.2 million, or 27.9 percent, above the prior year.

Revenue tables can be viewed on the OMES website: https://www.ok.gov/OSF/News/April_2018_Financial_Report_Data_Tables.html