Montpelier,
VT - Secretary of
Administration Michael K. Smith Announces that General Fund, Transportation Fund
and Education Fund Revenues Exceeded Target for February.
General Fund
Secretary of Administration Michael K. Smith
today released General Fund revenue results for the month of February, the eighth
month of fiscal year 2008. General Fund
revenues totaled $64.16 million, +$5.32 million or +9.04% more than the $58.84
million consensus revenue target for the month. The resulting fiscal year-to-date General Fund
revenue total of $767.19 million is +$6.65 million or 0.87% above the recently
revised consensus forecast of $760.54 million.
We are pleased to have exceeded our General Fund forecast. However, it should be noted that some of the
above target revenue is due to the timing of certain insurance tax receipts
which were targeted for March. Excluding
the timing items, General Fund revenue for the month still exceeded target by
$1.3 - $1.8 million, despite the continuing economic challenges, said Smith.
The monthly consensus cash flow targets reflect
the most recent fiscal year 2008 Consensus Revenue Forecast that was agreed to
by the Emergency Board on January 16,
2008. The
States Consensus Revenue Forecast is updated two times per year, in January
and July.
Monthly Personal Income Tax receipts are the
largest single state revenue source, and are reported Net-of-Personal Income
Tax refunds. Although the Personal
Income Tax for February of $2.82 million was below target by -$2.72 million,
the fiscal year-to-date Personal Income Tax remains above target by +$1.23
million or +0.33%, and +$33.43 million or +9.8% ahead of the prior year-to-date. Offsetting the under-target performance in
Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax exceeded target by +$1.45 million for
the month of February, due to lower than expected refunds, and by +$2.14
million or +5.96% year-to-date, Smith said.
The Rooms & Meals Tax fell below target by -$0.17
million or -1.70%. Sales and Use Tax
results were above target by +$0.57 or +0.35%.
The
Other General Fund category includes Insurance Tax, Estate Tax, Bank
Franchise Tax, Telephone Tax, Liquor Tax, Property Transfer Tax, Fees, and Other
Taxes. As previously stated, Insurance
Tax exceeded target by +$7.90 million, due mostly to timing, while Estate Tax fell
below target by -$1.2 million or -78.77% below target for the month, said
Smith. Year-to-date, through February, Estate
Tax, which is always difficult to predict, was -$3.05 million or -25.06% below the year-to-date target. Year-to-date, the remaining Other General
Fund revenue categories, exclusive of Insurance and Estate Tax, were below
target by -$1.53 million or -2.65%.
Secretary
Smith concluded by saying, We are pleased that the General Fund has exceeded our
forecast for February after taking the timing issues into consideration. However, the national economy continues to be
of great concern and we must remain cautious about our revenue predictions for the remainder
of fiscal year 2008.
General
Fund By Major Element (In Millions)
Tax
Component
FY07 YTD
FY08 YTD
% Change
Feb-07
Feb-08
% Change
Personal
Income
$341.97
$375.39
9.77%
$3.53
$2.82
15.16%
Sales
& Use
$153.74
$158.29
2.96%
$14.97
$16.33
3.86%
Corporate
$29.62
$38.00
28.29%
$1.13
$1.33
83.24%
Meals
& Room
$78.92
$84.24
6.74%
$8.66
$9.83
3.11%
Insurance
Premium
$40.60
$45.93
13.13%
$23.42
$28.83
-50.00%
Inheritance
& Estate
$13.24
$9.13
-31.04%
$0.73
$0.33
-93.42%
Real
Property Transfer
$8.84
$7.90
-10.63%
$0.73
$0.56
-36.80%
Other
$49.55
$48.31
-2.50%
$3.76
$4.13
-9.52%
Total
$716.48
$767.19
7.08%
$56.93
$64.16
8.04%
Transportation Fund
Secretary Smith also released the revenue
results for the Transportation Fund. The
Transportation Fund revenue results for February exceeded target by +$1.42
million or +9.71%, said Smith.
Gasoline Tax, Motor Vehicle Purchase and Use
Tax and Other Fees all exceeded the recently revised revenue targets for the
month (Gas, +$0.73 million or +16.0&; Motor Vehicle P&U, +$0.30 million
or +10.3%; and Other Fees, +$0.64 million or +48.17%). Diesel Tax was -$0.20 million or -18.23%
below target, while Motor Vehicle Fees slipped below target by only -$0.05
million or -0.99%. Cumulatively, the
Transportation Fund revenues of $143.44 million exceeded the target for the
year by +$1.37 million or +0.97%.
Transportation
Fund By Major Element (In Millions)
YTD
YTD
%
February
February
%
Tax
Component
FY 2007
FY 2008
Change