Tag: State Revenues

State Tax Collections Fall Behind Estimates

State officials say January’s tax collections provided no signs of an economic turn for West Virginia.

The state collected $374.3 million in revenue last month. Those figures were down $9.8 million from January 2015 and missed estimates by $11.5 million.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow says the numbers continue to look bad in February and March.

The state’s year-to-date tax collection of $2.29 billion is also running $169.5 million below estimates.

Two areas that exceeded estimates in January were sales and personal income tax collections, as the state collected $195.3 million in personal income and $132.6 million in sales taxes.

Muchow went on to say that the lack of economic growth is a result of the lack of employment and wage growth in West Virginia.

Report Says State Revenues $115M Short of Projections

The West Virginia Department of Revenue says state finances continue to lag.

As of Nov. 30, the state had collected about $115 million less than expected. The cumulative total of $1.52 billion also is about $83 million less than the state had collected at the same time a year.

For the month of November alone, General Revenue Fund collections were $290 million — nearly $23 million below projections, and 1.6 percent below prior year receives.

Revenue Cabinet Secretary Robert S. Kiss says the state continues to see a big decline in severance tax collections, as well as a lack of growth in personal income tax and sales tax revenue.

W.Va. Officials Say State Faces Deficit of $80 Million

State officials say West Virginia could end the fiscal year $60 million to $80 million in the red.

February revenue collections were about $5.4 million below estimates for the month. That increased the total shortfall for the fiscal year to more than $47 million.

The fiscal year ends July 1.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow tells media outlets that revenue collections for the remainder of the fiscal year would have to be at least 9.7 percent higher than last year’s revenue collections. He says that’s unlikely.

W.Va. Officials Say Budget Gap will be Filled

A gap in the state budget is growing, but West Virginia revenue officials say it will be filled by the end of the fiscal year in June.

Tax collections in March came in about $14 million below projections. For the fiscal year’s first nine months, tax collections are more than $78 million below projections.
 
The fiscal year ends June 30.
 
Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss and Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow discussed the state’s finance’s Wednesday during a conference call with media outlets.
 
Muchow said a hiring freeze and midyear budget cuts implemented by Gov. Tomblin are expected to save the state $33 million.
 
Kiss said the savings, combined with about $70 million in one-time budget supplements, should be enough to fill the gap.
 

Exit mobile version