West Virginia’s state government continues to bring in more tax dollars than anticipated.
October General Revenue Fund collections exceeded estimates by nearly $42 million, representing a 6% increase from the previous October, according to monthly numbers released today.
Cumulative year-to-date collections are also significantly above estimates and ahead of the prior year’s figures, a trend Gov. Patrick Morrisey attributed to growth in consumer spending and personal income.
“I’m encouraged by growth trends in consumer spending and personal income in recent months that have helped the state exceed estimates in general revenue collections,” Morrisey said.
“The positive trends over the last few months bode well as we prepare for the budget challenges ahead.”
For the month, Personal Income Tax collections totaled $167.3 million — $8.7 million above estimate.
Consumer Sales Tax collections totaled $133.4 million in October. That was $0.2 million above the estimate and 6.7%, ahead of prior October collections.
In all, October General Revenue Fund collections totaled nearly $417.8 million, running ahead of the monthly estimate of $375.9 million.
Year-to-date collections reached $1.789 billion, surpassing the year-to-date estimate of $1.686 billion by $102.9 million, and running 5.2% ahead of prior year collections.
On MetroNews Talkline, state Revenue Secretary Eric Nelson described a solid month for state finances.
“I think it continues to just show that on the economic front, we’re pretty strong,” Nelson said.
But he did warn of factors outside the state’s direct control.
“This month’s numbers don’t necessarily reflect any of the shut federal shutdown issues. We do expect that to have some negative effects on income and consumer sales tax,” he said. “But once things open up, that all evens out.”