State revenue shows "marginal" improvement

OKLAHOMA CITY — State revenue collections for November showed “marginal improvement” from October, but still failed to meet collections from the prior year, State Treasurer Scott Meacham announced recently.

Mecham said net income tax and gross production collections failed to meet the estimate, while sales tax was equal to the estimate.

Preliminary reports show general revenue fund collections totaled $403.6 million for the month of November.

That amount, Mechan said, is $27.4 million — almost 6.5 percent — below the same month of the prior year and $11.4 million or 2.7 percent below the estimate for the same period.

"It would appear the growth of Oklahoma's economy has slowed," Meacham said. "Compared to the previous month, November's collections have improved - but only slightly. We hope the ice storms won't significantly curtail retail spending in the coming days and weeks and our economy will pick up strength."

In October, revenue collections fell short of the estimate and prior year collections in three of the four major tax categories. Collections that month missed the estimate by $16.6 million or 3.6 percent.

In November, Mechan said earnings on investments made by the

Treasurer’s office — the state's largest source of non-tax revenue — totaled $16.5 million, about 3.8 percent above the same month one year ago.

The combination of individual and corporate income tax returns totaled $153.8 million for the month; about $29.4 million or 16 percent below collections of one year ago and $2.7 million or 1.7 percent below the estimate.

Personal income tax collections for the month totaled $153.8 million, which is $25.6 million or 14.3 percent below the prior year but equal to the estimate. Corporate income tax collections were less than corporate income tax refunds for the month and are shown as zero. Variances in corporate collections are common on a month-to-month basis.

The state sales tax produced $131.1 million for the month of November, which is $5.6 million or 4.4 percent above the prior year and equal to the estimate.

The Gross Production tax on natural gas yielded $46.5 million during the month, which is $0.4 million or 0.9 percent above the priorz year but $3.2 million or 6.3 percent below the estimate.

Motor vehicle tax receipts, which come primarily from vehicle sales and licenses, produced $20.8 million in the month.

That is $4.1 million or 16.6 percent below the prior year but $0.4 million or 1.8 percent above the estimate.

Other Revenue, which includes investment earnings along with taxes on insurance, alcoholic beverages and others, produced $51.5 million during November. This is $0.2 million or 0.3 percent above the prior year but $5.9 million or 10.3 percent below the estimate.

For the first five months of the fiscal year, collections total $2.314 billion. That is $27.4 million or 1.2 percent below the same period of the prior year but $67.2 million or 3 percent above the estimate.