SEPTEMBER REVENUE ABOVE PREDICTIONS

BOISE – Governor Jim Risch released preliminary revenue data today that shows September tax collections are above projections. For the month of September total revenue was $8.9 million above predictions for a total of $22.9 million over projections for the current fiscal year that began July 1.

“This fits into the revised forecast made by my budget office in August that we should have another surplus for this fiscal year,” said Risch. “Our economy continues to be very strong and that is very good news for the state’s general fund.”

In a breakdown of the sectors individual income tax collections were up $1.4 million; corporate income tax brought in $2.8 million more than projected; sales taxes were up $4.8 million; and combined product and miscellaneous revenues were in line with projections.

“It is too early to tell if the jump in sales tax revenue is the result of purchases made in advance of the October 1 one-penny sales tax increase,” said Michael Ferguson, Chief Economist with the Division of Financial Management. “We will know more in future months as we analyze the sales tax collection data.”

In August the Idaho Legislature approved a proposal to permanently reduce property taxes by an average of 20 percent statewide. To protect education funding, which received the maintenance and operations (M & O) levy funds that were removed from the property tax, the Legislature increased the sales tax by one-cent. They also approved moving $100 million in surplus funds into a “rainy day” savings account to be used for education budgets during an economic downturn.

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