Vermont Corporate tax revenues pushed General Fund revenues past their targets in December, offsetting another sluggish month for the important Personal Income tax, which continues to lag behind expectations. The Sales tax also continues to be below targets, though both Personal and Sales are ahead of actual revenues from the previous fiscal year to date.
Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the December 2012 General Fund (GF) Revenue results today. General Fund revenues totaled $113.93 million for December 2012, and were +$4.63 million or +4.23% above the $109.30 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year to date, General Fund revenues were $601.57 million, and +$4.58 million or +0.77% ahead of the cumulative target of $596.99 million. December is the sixth month of fiscal year (FY) 2013.
Spaulding said, Very strong performance in Corporate Income Tax receipts in December propelled the total General Fund receipts above target for both the month and year-to-date. That good news is tempered somewhat by under-performance in Personal Income and Sales & Use taxes for the month. Most importantly, FY 2013 General Fund receipts through first six months of the year exceed collections for the same period last year by 5.7%, consistent with continuing economic recovery.
Current targets reflect the Fiscal Year 2013 Consensus Revenue Forecast adopted by the Emergency Board at their July 20, 2012 meeting. Statutorily, the State is required to revise the Consensus Revenue Forecast two times per year, in January and July; the Emergency Board may schedule interim revisions if deemed necessary. The next Emergency Board meeting is scheduled for January 23, 2013.
Personal Income Tax (PI) receipts are the largest single state revenue source providing approximately 50% of total GF revenue. PI Tax receipts are reported Net-of-Personal Income Tax refunds. Net Personal Income Tax is comprised of PI Withholding Tax, PI Estimated Payments, PI Refunds Paid, and PI Other. Net PI Receipts for December were recorded at $56.53 million, -$2.14 million or -3.64% below the monthly target of $58.67 million. Year to date, Net PI Receipts were $293.98 million, -$8.47 million or -2.80% behind the FY 2013 target and +23.06% ahead of the results for the same period of the prior fiscal year (FY 2012).
Corporate Income Taxes are also reported net-of refunds. December Net Corporate Income Tax receipts of $22.50 million were +$9.49 million or +72.98% above the monthly target of $13.01 million. Year to date Corporate receipts were $49.40 million, +$12.40 million or +33.50% above target. Compared to the same period for the prior fiscal year (FY 2012), Corporate Income Tax receipts exceed the prior year by 30.05%.
Consumption tax results for December were both short of target: Sales & Use Tax receipts of $17.28 million were behind target by -$1.68 million (-8.88%); Rooms & Meals Tax receipts of $7.71 million were behind target by -$0.42 million (-5.15%). Year to date, Sales & Use Tax receipts of $115.09 million are -$2.19 million below the target of $117.28 million. Cumulative Rooms & Meals Tax of $68.80 million remain just above target by +0.06%. Sales & Use Tax and Rooms & Meals Tax both exceed receipts for the prior year by +1.51% and +5.18% respectively.
The remaining non-major tax components include Insurance, Inheritance & Estate Tax, Real Property Transfer Tax, and Other (which includes: Bank Franchise Tax, Telephone Tax, Liquor Tax, Beverage Tax, Fees, and Other Taxes). The results for the remaining non-major categories for December were as follows: Insurance Tax, $1.50 million (-13.41%); Inheritance & Estate Tax, $0.13 (-92.59%); Property Transfer Tax, $0.88 million (+26.29%); and Other, $7.39 million (+16.70%). The fiscal year to date December results for the remaining non-major categories were: Insurance Tax, $17.15 million (+3.54%); Inheritance & Estate Tax, $10.99 (+15.09%); Property Transfer Tax, $4.97 million (+8.31%); and Other, $41.19 million (+0.91%). Cumulatively, the total non-major component receipts of $74.30 million exceeded the prior year total by +$5.85 million, or +8.54%.
Transportation Fund
The non-dedicated Transportation Fund Revenue for December was also reported on by Secretary Spaulding. Total non-dedicated Transportation Fund receipts of $16.25 million for the month fell short of the target by -$0.98 million (-5.69%), against the monthly target of $17.23 million. Year to Date, non-dedicated Transportation Fund receipts of $109.53 were -$1.94 million or -1.74% below the target of $111.47 million. Compared to FY 2012, year to date
December Transportation Funds receipts exceed the prior year by +$1.94 million or +1.80% for the same period.
Individual Transportation Fund revenue receipts components for December all fell below target with the exception of the Other category: Gasoline Tax, $4.61 million or -7.43% below target; Diesel Tax, $1.38 million or -2.34% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $3.80 million or -8.18% behind target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $4.79 million or -8.86% below target; and Other Fees, $1.67 million or +15.75% in excess of the monthly target. Year to date results for the individual Transportation Fund revenue components for December were below target in all but the Other category: Gasoline Tax, $30.58 million or -2.28% below target; Diesel Tax, $7.42 million or -6.40% behind target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $26.63 million or -2.43% short of target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $35.69 million or -1.64% short of target; and Other Fees, $9.20 million or +6.20% above the monthly target.
Secretary Spaulding said, It is disappointing to have the Transportation Fund fall back from the gains made last month. Clearly, with the gas tax producing less revenue than last year, there are underlying issues in the Transportation Fund which need to be addressed in the upcoming legislative session. People are driving fewer miles and in more fuel efficient cars, and that is putting stress on our traditional revenue generation model for the maintenance of our transportation infrastructure.
The Secretary also reported on the results for the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Fund (TIB). TIB Fund Gas receipts for December were $1.64 million or -4.48% behind the monthly target; year to date TIB Gas receipts were $11.07 million or +1.45% above target. TIB Fund Diesel receipts for the month were $0.17 million or -6.48% short of the monthly target; year to date TIB Diesel receipts were $0.77 million or -22.59% short of target. The year to date TIB results were +80.10% and +321.3% above the TIB Fund Gas receipts and TIB Diesel receipts, respectively, from the prior year (FY 2012). TIB Fund receipts are noted below the following table:
Education Fund
Secretary Spaulding also released the non-Property Tax Education Fund revenues (which constitute approximately 13% of the total Education Fund sources) today. The non-Property Tax Education Fund receipts for December totaled $12.29 million, or -$0.86 million (-6.52%) below the $13.14 million target for the month. Year to date, non-Property Tax Education Fund receipts were $80.47 million, or -2.18% short of the year to date target. The individual Education Fund revenue component results for December were: Sales & Use Tax, $8.64 million, or -8.88% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $1.90 million or -8.18%; Lottery Transfer, $1.73 million or +9.86% above target; Education Fund Interest for December was less than $.01 million against a target of less than $0.01 million. Year to date receipts by component were: Sales & Use Tax, $57.54 million, or -1.87% short of target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $13.31 million or -2.43%; Lottery Transfer, $9.56 million or -3.69% below target; year to date Education Fund Interest was less than $0.05 million against a target under $0.05 million. As compared to prior year, FY 2013 year to date non-Property Tax Education Fund receipts are +1.65% ahead of the FY 2012 results for the same period.
Conclusion
Secretary Spaulding concluded, Six months through the fiscal year, the revenue picture is mixed, with the General Fund a little ahead of target and the Transportation and Education funds a little under target. The updated consensus forecast, scheduled for presentation next week, will be helpful looking forward.