Sales Tax Collections Decline Amid Fiscal Uncertainty, June Flood

Officials say West Virginia’s tax collections did not meet estimates again in July, marking 15 months since the state met or exceeded those estimates.

Secretary of Revenue Bob Kiss says West Virginia tax collections were nearly $33 million short of estimates for the month.  A large portion of that was due to a decline in the state’s consumer sales tax collections.

The sales tax is often called one of the most stable forms of revenue for the state, but in July alone, collections came in more than $22 million  below estimates.

Revenue officials say while June’s devastating flooding had some impact on those collections, other factors, including uncertainty at the end of the fiscal year in June about the health of the state’s overall budget, also played a role.

The last time consumer sales tax collections were this low was July 2004.

Revenue officials say they do not believe the low consumer sales tax collections will be a trend for the 2017 fiscal year and those revenues will rebound in August.