CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s revenue collections didn’t get much better in August, according to state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss.
Although the $313.69 million in taxes collected were five percent better than August 2015 it was still $16.3 million below projections. After two months of the new fiscal year, the state has fallen behind in collections by $49 million, Kiss said.
Both Kiss and Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow told reporters during a Tuesday conference call September would be a key month for tax collections because quarterly estimated tax payments are due from businesses.
“The estimates are fairly aggressive (for September),” Muchow said.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced mid-year budget cuts after the September and October 2015 revenue numbers dropped significantly below projections. Kiss predicted Tomblin would not hesitate do it again even though he only has a few months left in his term.
“Probably if there is one thing that’s in his DNA more than anything else he’s committed to having a balanced budget and he’s certainly not going to turn over to the next governor an imbalanced one because he’s unwilling to make budget cuts,” Kiss said. “If he has to do that I have no doubt that he will do it.”
Tomblin has cut $400 million out of the state’s base budget in recent years, Kiss said.
Severance tax collections missed the mark by $16.6 million August, Consumer Sales Tax was down nearly $4 million while Personal Increase Tax receipts showed a $2.5 million reduction. The state’s Insurance Premium Tax ($6.1 million), Tobacco Products Tax ($2.1 million) and B&O Tax ($1.6 million) did better than projected.