CHARLESTON, W.Va. (The Hinton News) – West Virginia’s total General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections for October were $380 million, missing estimates by $8 million, or 2.0%. For the Fiscal Year-to-Date (FYTD) through October, total GRF collections of $1.79 billion exceeded the estimate of $1.73 billion by $54 million, or 3.1%. Total GRF collections for the FYTD were $0.2 million over the prior FYTD.
“West Virginia continues to maintain a strong fiscal position while we deliver meaningful tax relief to hardworking families,” said Governor Morrisey. “We’ve reduced personal income taxes, held the line on spending, and worked to make government more efficient. Our focus remains on protecting taxpayers, keeping our budget balanced, and creating the conditions for more jobs and economic growth across our state.”
Personal Income Tax collections, the largest individual GRF component, were $169 million in October and above the monthly estimate by $1 million, or 0.4%. Personal Income Tax collections are $16 million above estimate for the FYTD, and are $16 million, or 2.2%, above the prior FYTD.
Consumer Sales Tax collections exceeded the monthly estimate by $6 million (4.7%), with total collections for October of $142 million. For the FYTD, collections from the Consumer Sales Tax are $26 million, or 4.1%, ahead of estimate. Consumer Sales Tax collections are $39 million (6.2%) above the prior FYTD.
Severance Tax collections were $1 million in October, beating the estimate by $4 million. Severance Tax collections are below the prior FYTD by $13 million, or 13.1%, and above the FYTD estimate by $7 million, or 8.8%. October historically has the lowest estimate for Severance Tax collections because, in addition to the local coal severance distributions that occur in the first month of each quarter, October is also the month where the State makes its annual local natural gas distributions. This October, nearly $7 million was distributed through coal distributions and more than $33 million was distributed from natural gas.
Corporate Net Income Tax collections in October were below the estimate by $17 million. Although gross collections for October exceeded the monthly estimate, and a year-over-year decline in collections was anticipated because of West Virginia’s conformity to tax provisions in the Working Families Tax Cut, significant additional refund activity throughout the month led to negative collections for October. Relative to the FYTD estimate, collections are $7 million (8.0%) below estimate and $20 million, or 20.0%, below the prior FYTD.
Tobacco Products Tax collections missed their estimate by less than $1 million in October and are $1 million above estimate for the FYTD. However, collections for the Tobacco Products Tax are close to even with actual collections in the prior FYTD. As consumption patterns shift over time away from traditional cigarette products, it is anticipated that this category will continue to decline.
Insurance Tax collections were $30 million in October, less than $1 million below estimate. For the FYTD, collections are $1 million above estimate and close to even with the prior FYTD.
Interest Income was $8 million in October, falling short of its estimate by 1.2%. For the FYTD, collections are $6 million ahead of estimate but $13 million below the prior FYTD. The short-term interest rate environment has remained elevated relative to expectations, but recent volatility places additional uncertainty on this category going forward.
