Vermont Business Magazine All three of the major General Fund revenue components exceeded targets in July, according to results released today by the Vermont Secretary of Administration. General Fund revenues totaled $105.35 million. This is +$1.10 million or +1.06% ahead of the monthly forecast target of $104.24 million. The Personal Income (the most important single revenue source), Corporate and Sales taxes all exceeded their targets, if only slightly. The one component that failed to meet its target was the Inheritance/Estate (notoriously hard to predict) and the “Other” category.
The current month’s results are +$4.35 million higher than the results for July of last year (FY 2015). July is the first month of the new fiscal year 2016. The new fiscal year revenue targets were adopted by the Vermont Emergency Board on July 27, 2015.
The other two funds, however, Transportation and Education fell behind targets. Diesel fuel and auto sales were both down for the month and for the year. The under-performing auto sales hurt both funds.
Administration Secretary Justin Johnson said, “While it is good news the GF revenue exceeded target by 1.06%, the better news is that GF results exceeded the prior July by 4.31%.”
The Transportation Fund (TF) dedicated receipts for July, of $18.92 million, fell short of target by -$0.52 million, or -2.65%. Compared to the prior July (FY2015) Transportation Fund results were short by -$1.00 million or –5.04%.
The Education Fund (EF) receipts of $15.87 million were essentially on target for the current fiscal year (FY 2016). However, July results are +$0.47 million or +3.04% above the results for the July of prior fiscal year (FY 2015).
The Secretary concluded, “Generally, we are pleased with the results, although, we will be watching the Transporta-tion Fund. July is historically a volatile and small revenue producing month and is not a reliable indicator of the remainder of the year. That being said, we are encouraged by the year over year growth, which shows continued steady upward revenue progress.”
