(Vermont Business Magazine) Secretary of Administration Neale F Lunderville announced today that all three state of Vermont revenue figures - General Fund, Transportation Fund and Education Fund - all exceeded forecasts for the month of March. General Fund revenues exceeded expectations by 21 percent, or nearly $13 million for a total of $75 million. The principal factor was personal income tax net, which was 37 percent higher than expected. Transportation was up nearly $1 million, or 5 percent, gasoline and vehicle purchase taxes were up significantly. The Education tax was up $560,000 or 5.3 percent.
General FundMarch is the 9th month of FY 2010. General Fund revenues totaled $74.97 million for March 2010, were +$12.98 million or +20.94% above the $61.99 million consensus revenue forecast for the month, recovering the majority of the shortfall from the January and February receipts. Year to date, General Fund revenues of $748.44 million remained slightly below the year to date target of $750.46 million (-$2.02, or -0.27%).March’s are the third monthly results utilizing the revised FY 2010 Consensus Revenue Forecast, approved by the Emergency Board at their January 13, 2010 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 continued underperformance in withholding remains troubling since it is an indicator of current economic conditions."
Personal Income Tax receipts are the largest single state revenue source, and are reported Net-of-Personal Income Tax refunds. Personal Income Tax receipts for March of $8.80 million were +$2.39 million or +37.26% above the monthly target of $6.41 million.
“A closer look at the major individual components of personal income tax reveals that the above target performance is due primarily to fewer refunds than was built into the target,” said Secretary Lunderville. “However, personal income tax withholdings finished below target by -4.6% for the month – the third month in a row where tax withholding has seen below target results. The continued underperformance in withholding remains troubling since it is an indicator of current economic conditions.”
Corporate Income Taxes, which are also reported net-of refunds, were above target for March with receipts of $16.89 million against a target of $12.94 million or +$3.95 million (+30.54%). The consumption taxes were all above target for the month. Sales & Use Tax of $15.20 million was above target by +$0.38 million (+2.56%), and Rooms & Meals Tax receipts of $11.87 million exceeded target by +$0.81 million (+7.31%) for March.The year to date results for the four major General Fund categories are as follows: Personal Income Tax, $324.08 million (-2.94%); Sales & Use Tax, $159.10 million (+0.38%); Corporate, $48.62 million (+9.26%); and Meals & Rooms Tax, $92.68 million (+1.33%).
The remaining 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 month of March were as follows: Insurance Tax, $8.67 million (+20.91%); Estate Tax, $2.86 million (+62.84%); Property Transfer Tax, $0.42 million (+2.59%); and “Other”, $10.27 million (38.30%). Year to date results for these categories were: Insurance Tax, $46.20 million (-3.54%); Estate Tax, $12.18 million (-5.03%); Property Transfer Tax, $5.78 million (+1.74%); and “Other”, $59.82 million (+7.34%).
Transportation FundSecretary Lunderville also reported on the results for the non-dedicated Transportation Fund Revenue, with receipts of $19.60 million for the month or +$0.94 million (+5.03%), above the monthly target for March of $18.66 million. The year to date non-dedicated Transportation revenue was $151.62 million versus the target of $151.34 million (+$0.28 million, +0.19%).
March results showed above target receipts in all categories, except Diesel Fuel Tax and “Other”. The Transportation Fund revenue results for March were: Gasoline, $5.76 million or +10.46% above target; Diesel Tax, $1.17 million or -24.73% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $3.99 million or 22.97% above target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $6.98 million or +5.73% above target; and Other Fees, $1.71 million or -16.76% below the monthly target. The March year to date Transportation Fund revenue results were: Gasoline, $46.48 million or -0.22% below target, Diesel Tax, $10.99 million or -2.04% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $31.82 million or +2.28% above target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $49.21 million or +0.62% above target; and Other Fees, $13.11 million or -3.00%, short of target.
“March results saw a more favorable picture in Gasoline Tax and Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax in particular. As expected, we made up much of the slippage we experienced in Gasoline Tax last month,” said Secretary Lunderville.
Secretary Lunderville also reported on the results for the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Fund (“TIB”). TIB Fund Gas receipts for March were $1.42 million or +8.43% above target due to the correction of a coding error where previous receipts were not properly reported. The correction closed some of the previous shortfall bringing TIB Fund Gas receipts to $9.68 million or -1.22% short of target. The TIB Fund Diesel receipts were $0.55 million or +193.49% above target for the month – again correcting for the miscoding; year to date TIB Diesel receipts were $1.00 million or +54.02% ahead of target. The TIB Fund receipts are noted below the following table:
Education FundSecretary Lunderville released revenue results for the “the non-Property Tax” Education Fund revenues (which constitute approximately 11% of the total Education Fund sources). The non-Property Tax Education Fund receipts for March totaled $11.23 million, or +$0.56 million (+5.29%) above the $10.67 million revised Consensus Revenue target for the month. Year to date, Education Fund revenues were $110.02 million or +0.58% ahead of target.
The individual Education Fund revenue component results for March were: Sales & Use Tax, $7.60 million, or +2.56% ahead of target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $1.99 million or +22.96%; Lottery Transfer, $1.62 million or -0.56%; and Education Fund Interest, $0.01 million or +336.39%. Year-to-date results were: Sales & Use Tax, $79.55 or +0.38%; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $15.91 million or +2.28%; Lottery Transfer, $14.48 million or –0.17%; and Education Fund Interest, $0.08 million or -4.62%.
Source: Lunderville's office. 4.9.2010