Vermont Business Magazine Tax revenues did not meet targets again in May, despite a spectacular performance by the Corporate income tax. While the state is still trying to rectify Personal income tax errors that have plagued many electronically filed returns, the consumption taxes, especially the Sales and Gasoline taxes suffered. Gasoline receipts were down over 16 percent, which dragged down the Transportation Fund nearly 7 percent. GF Revenues were also down for the fiscal year. May is the 11th month of FY 2016. May tends to be a slower month for consumption taxes as it's between tourism seasons. Overall, General Fund revenues for the month were down by -$.66 million or –0.86 percent, totaling $75.38 million versus a monthly target of $76.04 million. This shortfall is driven by underperformance across the board with the exception of the Corporate Tax, which saw an above target performance of $3.17 million versus a target of $.43 million. The General Fund finished May with a cumulative year-to-date shortfall of -$15.31 million, $1,283.82 million versus a target of $1,299.13 million. Compared to the prior fiscal year, (FY2015), the current cumulative results for GF are +$30.05 million, or 2.40 percent ahead.
The Transportation Fund (TF) had non-dedicated receipts for May totaling $22.05 million, missing the monthly target by -$1.65 million (-6.97%), resulting in cumulative year to date receipts of $235.50 million. Compared to the prior fiscal year (FY 2015), the current cumulative results for TF are +$2.90 million, or +1.25% ahead.
The Education Fund (EF) receipts for May were off target by -$0.13 million. Sales and Use was down -$0.39 million, MV Purchase and Use down -$0.10 million and Lottery revenues were up +$0.34 million. Compared to prior fiscal year (FY2015), the current cumulative results for the EF are +$6.56 million, or +4.00%.
Administration Secretary Justin Johnson said, “while we didn’t quite make our targets for May, we are encouraged that General Fund revenues for this year continue to outpace last year by $30.05 million or 2.40%.”
“We continue to assess the causes for the under performance in the Personal Income—Paid Returns last month and this close-to-target result should not impact our ability to address the year-to-date shortfall and ensure we finish this year with a balanced General Fund budget that does not require using Reserve Funds. Any effects of this performance in FY 2017 will be addressed with the release of the July revenue estimates.”
