State revenue up, Meacham says

OKLAHOMA CITY — For the third year in a row, Oklahoma will deposit millions into its constitutional “rainy day” fund, a spokesman for the state treasurer said last week.

Tim Allen, deputy state treasurer, said increased tax collections will allow the state to “fill the rainy day fund to the constitutional maximum.”

Officials expect that deposit “to be about $76 million,” he said.

The fund currently has a balance of $495.7 million. A $75.9 million deposit would push the fund’s balance to $571.6, and increase the cap level on the fund.

The increase follows news that state revenue collections — for the first 10 months of the fiscal year — show close to a $200 million surplus. Those collections, Allen said, exceed last year’s by almost 5 percent and are more than 4 percent above previous revenue estimates made this year.

Those numbers are good news, State Treasurer Scott Meacham said.

“We are on track to finish the fiscal year in two months with a healthy surplus,” Meacham said. “We will be able to once again fill the Rainy Day Fund to the constitutional maximum and have revenues above the Rainy Day Fund cap for the third consecutive year.”

Preliminary reports show General Revenue Fund collections year-to-date are $4.91 billion. Those amounts are:

• $228.2 million or 4.9 percent above the prior year; and

• $199.3 million or 4.2 percent above the estimate of $4.713 million.

Additionally, Allen said year-to-date, net income taxes have produced $2.32 billion — a $129.6 million or 5.9 percent increase over the prior year.

Of that figure, personal income tax has generated $1.95 billion in revenue — which is $40.8 million below the prior year — while corporate income tax collections have produced $369.3 million, about $170.5 million above the prior year.

“It’s good news,” Allen said. “The revenue increase is really being driven by corporate income tax collections; they are running 154 percent above the estimate. Oklahoma businesses have had a good year.”

Overall, state revenue has continue to flex up and down, including:

• State sales tax, which has produced $1.27 billion so far — a $63.1 million increase over last year.

• Gross production tax on oil and natural gas, which has yielded $505.3 million for the first 10 months of the fiscal year — $87.8 below the prior year.

• Motor vehicle taxes — $207.8 million, about $19.6 million or 10.4 percent above the prior year.

For the first 10 months of the fiscal year, the treasurer’s investments generated $119.9 million; “...that’s $48.3 million above the previous year.” Allen said.

However, not all the news was good.

For the month of April, collections were slightly below 2006. General Revenue Fund collections for the month totaled $678.2 million, about $9.8 million below the pervious year.