CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State tax collections missed estimates once again in September.
State Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said Tuesday the state brought in $406 million in revenue for the month, missing the estimate by $2 million. Muchow said through the first three months of the fiscal year tax revenue collected has missed estimates by a total of $34 million.
Muchow said there are signs of an improving economy and he expects revenues to improve in the months to come. He said the money from the taxes on natural gas has started to surge. Collections have exceeded estimates so far this fiscal year by $2.2 million.
“There’s been a significant increase in natural gas production along with more stabilized natural gas prices,” he said.
Coal continues to struggle although the rate of decline in production levels has slowed. Muchow said exports of metallurgical coal are also down.
There’s some caution and optimism a quarter of the way into the fiscal year.
“Underlying economic variables are weaker than expected, wage growth is a bit tepid,” Muchow said. “However, this weakness is forecasted to improve.”