CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state ended the fiscal year June 30 some $60 million off in revenue collections but the state budget finished balanced because of a number of moves made by the Tomblin administration and members of the state legislature.
The revenue numbers were released by state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss Thursday. Collections totaled more than $4 billion but missed estimates mainly because of a downturn in severance tax collections from coal and natural gas.
“That amount of money that were short—a lot of that occurred in the last several months–so it’s a trend going into the next year,” Kiss said.
A state worker hiring freeze remains in effect in the new fiscal year but Kiss said some other options will need to be explored because the freeze isn’t generating the savings it did when it was first put into effect two years ago.
Tax collection estimates for both personal income and consumer sales tax were almost met last budget year. Kiss said that’s a positive.
“That tells me, to some extent, the economy is finally rebounding from the doldrums we have seen for too many years,” he said.
The state released the following highlights of the recently completed budget year Thursday:
PERSONAL INCOME TAX
After declining by 2.2 percent in Fiscal Year 2014, Personal Income Tax collections grew by 10.4 percent in Fiscal Year 2015, a net gain of nearly $173 million. Wage and salary withholding tax collection growth improved from just 0.7 percent in the prior year to 5.1 percent in fiscal year 2015. Estimated income tax payments grew by more than 16 percent and nonresident withholding tax payments jumped by more than 21 percent from the prior year. A greater than 30 percent increase in natural gas production stimulated both income growth and growth in estimated tax and non-resident withholding tax payments. The Personal Income Tax accounted for roughly 43.8 percent of total General Revenue Fund collections for the year.
CONSUMER SALES AND USE TAX
Fiscal Year 2015 Consumer Sales Tax collections totaled nearly $1.228 billion. Collections rose
$55 million from prior year receipts. Despite the revenue growth, sales tax collections still fell short of estimate for both the month and the year. The Consumer Sales Tax accounted for nearly 29.3 percent of General Revenue Fund collections in Fiscal Year 2015.
SEVERANCE TAX
Fiscal year 2015 Severance Tax collections totaled nearly $414.2 million. General Revenue Fund receipts fell by more than 15 percent from the $488.7 million collected in the prior fiscal year. Coal production levels were largely unchanged from the prior fiscal year and natural gas production rose by more than 30 percent. However, average coal prices fell by roughly 10 percent and average natural gas prices dropped by roughly 30 percent from the prior year. These factors lead to the decline in tax collections for the year. Monthly Severance Tax collections of $50.5 million were $2.4 million below estimate and 38 percent below prior year receipts. Cumulative collections were $60.4 million below estimate and 9.8 percent below prior year adjusted receipts (adjusted to reflect timing changes for local tax distributions). The Severance Tax accounted for roughly 9.9 percent of total General Revenue Fund collections in Fiscal Year 2015.
CORPORATION NET INCOME TAX
Fiscal Year 2015 Corporation Net Income Tax collections for the State General Revenue Fund totaled $186.1 million, a decrease of $17.4 million from prior year collections. The decline in revenues was largely attributable to the continuing phase-out of the Business Franchise Tax component. June collections of $30.1 million were $10.2 million below estimate and 7 percent below prior year receipts. The Corporation Net Income Tax accounted for roughly 4.4 percent of total General Revenue Fund collections in Fiscal Year 2015.
Additionally, State Road Fund revenues for the fiscal year totaled nearly $743 million. Collections exceeded both the annual estimate by more than $41.4 million and prior year collections by nearly $8.3 million.