Vermont Business Magazine After several months of relatively weak performance, the Personal Income tax, Vermont's most important revenue source, had a bad month, once again dragging down overall tax revenues, according to the October results. The results for the PI tax also showed that they were down not only against current targets, but against targets for the fiscal year to date. The Corporate tax, which has been a significant and strong part of the state's revenue stream, also had a down month but is still running close to 20 percent ahead of expectations for the year.
Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding today released the preliminary October fiscal year (FY) 2015 revenue results for the General, Transportation, and Education Funds. General Fund (GF) revenues totaled $107.26 million for October 2014, -$8.09 million or –7.01 percent below the monthly target. Year-to-date, GF receipts are $434.32 million, -$11.91 million or –2.67 percent below the cumulative target. They are $8.89 million or 2.09 percent above the year-to-date results of the prior fiscal year (FY 2014).
The Transportation Fund finished higher than projected for the month of October, finishing at $22.99 million, $0.81 million, or 3.65 percent ahead of its monthly target. On a cumulative basis, TF revenues were $89.14 million, $0.99 million or 1.12 percent above the cumulative target. Compared to the prior fiscal year (FY 2014), TF revenues were $3.71 million or 4.34 percent ahead.
The gasoline tax, while still down for the year, showed considerable gains after it had shown weakness with people driving less and driving more fuel efficient vehicles. The diesel tax, on the other hand, while still running strong for the year, had a steep drop for the month.
The Education Fund came in slightly lower than budgeted for the month of October, finishing at $16.26 million, -$0.07 mil-lion, or –0.44 percent, behind its monthly target. Year-to-date EF revenues were $0.47 million or 0.78 percent ahead of the cumulative target. In addition, EF revenues were $1.37 million or 2.30 percent higher than the prior fiscal year (FY 2014).
Secretary Spaulding commented, “Clearly, the ongoing weakness in personal income tax receipts, which finished the month 11.24 percent below projection, is worrisome. It is the main reason the General Fund is almost $12 million below target through four months of the fiscal year. The Shumlin administration continues to analyze thoroughly the contributing factors for the recent underperformance in the personal income tax and is preparing for further adjustments to operate within available revenues. On the bright side, consumption taxes continued to perform well, with the Sales & Use Tax up 5.4 percent over last October and 4.67% for the fiscal year, the Rooms & Meals Tax up 5.7 percent over last October and 5.3 percent for the fiscal year, and the Motor Vehicle Purchase and Use Tax up 9.9 percent over last October and 8.59 percent for the fiscal year."
