CHARLESTON, W.Va. — April is historically the biggest revenue month of the budget year for the state but that wasn’t the case this fiscal year as collections missed estimates by just more than $72 million.
It’s another financial blow to the state that has been struggling through the past few budget years mainly because of a steep downturn in severance tax collections for coal and natural gas.
“It was not a good month again,” state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss concluded during a Wednesday conference call with reporters.
The $72 million shortfall put the year-to-date revenue hole at nearly $219 million, which would be even worse had not the legislature and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin agreed on some money shifts in the budget.
Personal income tax collections were down $44 million for the month. Those filing income taxes before the April 18 deadline paid $13 million less in taxes than last year, state Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said.
“About a third of the people who file income tax returns have to pay each year when they file their return. For those people who owe the state money the amount owed on that return was lower this year than last year. It probably reflected a downturn in personal income,” Muchow said.
Severance tax collections are down nearly $159 million for the fiscal year. Things may start to improve a little for coal in the months to come, Muchow said.
“Keep an eye on the inventories at power plants. As those coal inventories are worked down that will lead to some stabilization in the coal industry,” he said.
Another indicator of improvement will be sales tax collections, according to Muchow.
Gov. Tomblin is still considering when to call state lawmakers to the capitol for a special session to deal with the current budget, which has a revenue hole and the next state budget, which hasn’t yet been approved.