Okla. revenue collections keep rising in May, boosted by oil and gas production taxes

Okla. revenue collections keep climbing in May

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a sign that Oklahoma’s economy keeps improving, the state’s revenue collections in May exceeded both the official estimate and the amount brought in last year, State Treasurer Scott Meacham said Tuesday.

Preliminary reports show collections to the state’s General Revenue Fund totaled nearly $379 million last month, which exceeded May 2009 collections by 6 percent. That was also 7.8 percent higher than the estimate prepared by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

“As we look back at collections throughout the fiscal year, it is becoming more apparent that our recovery started in February and that trend continues this month,” Meacham said in a statement.

It is just the second time in the last 11 months that collections for the month topped both the previous year total and the estimate.

May collections were boosted by strong gains in oil and gas production taxes, which netted $56.2 million for the state. That figure more than doubled last May’s collections and more than quadrupled what state officials had predicted.

Meacham said May’s solid collections allowed state officials to repay all the funds that were transferred earlier in the year from various cash accounts to stabilize state agency budgets. State law requires those accounts must be repaid before June 30, the last day of the fiscal year.

“We have now paid back all $320.9 million of the funds transferred to make allocations earlier in the year, and, after monthly allocations are made today, we will have a remainder of $6.7 million,” he said.

State sales tax collections in May were more than 7 percent higher than last year and topped the estimate by less than 1 percent.

But personal and corporate income taxes and motor vehicle taxes both trailed prior-year collections and the estimate.

Overall, collections for the first 11 months of the fiscal year total $4.1 billion, which is about 19 percent below last year’s collections and nearly 16 percent below the official estimate.