Vermont Business Magazine All three of Vermont's major tax funds were off in August, with the vital Personal Income tax off more than $3 million, or 7.1%. Overall, General Fund (GF) revenues totaled $88.84 million for August versus the monthly target of $92.40, -$3.56 million or –3.85% short. The shortfall was primarily due to those lower-than-expected Net Personal Income taxes (-$3.07 million behind) and some softness in the other categories. Corporate Income Taxes were the one area of strength and exceeded the monthly target by +$1.14 million, or +145.92%. Cumulatively, General Fund receipts of $194.19 million are -$2.46 million, or -1.25% below the year-to-date target. However, the cumulative results through August exceed the prior fiscal year results for the same period by +$4.83 million, or +2.55%. Sales and Rooms & Meals taxes were also both off.
August is the second month of fiscal year 2016. The fiscal year revenue targets were adopted by the Vermont Emergency Board on July 27, 2015. See DATA tables below.
Administration Secretary Justin Johnson said, “Although we are seeing a bit of a slow start to the fiscal year, after only two months, there is sufficient time to pick up the -1.25% shortfall over the remainder of the year. The good news is that we continue to exceed year-over-year growth by 2.55%.”
With motor vehicle sales below targets, the Transportation Fund and Education Fund were both well below expectations.
TheTransportation Fund (TF) dedicated receipts for August, of $21.89 million, fell short of the monthly target by -$1.91 million, or -8.01%, resulting in year to date results of -$2.42 million, or -5.60% below the cumulative target. Compared to the prior fiscal year (FY 2015) cumulative results, the TF is –$1.14 million, or -2.72% behind August of 2014. Due to timing issues with month end processing, the Agency is experiencing a larger than normal backlog of unprocessed receipts which Johnson said he feels will cover a portion of the year-to-date and year-over-year shortfall when processed next month.
The Education Fund (EF) receipts were -$1.58 million, or -10.27% below the monthly target of $15.40 million. This to some extent reflects the EF portion of unprocessed TF MV Purchase and Use Tax. The EF cumulative results through August are +0.57% ahead of the same period for the prior fiscal year (FY 2015).
Source: Agency of Administration 9.4.2015