Okla. revenue collections continue positive trend in July, outpace prior year, estimate

Okla. revenue collections continue positive trend

OKLAHOMA CITY — After the deepest revenue plunge in modern history, Oklahoma collections continued to show steady improvement during the first month of the new fiscal year, state officials reported Tuesday.

State revenue collections for the month of July, the first of the new fiscal year, outperformed both prior year collections and the official estimate, state Treasurer Scott Meacham reported.

“Collections in all major areas are above the same month of last year,” Meacham said. “As we begin the new fiscal year, the recovery of Oklahoma’s economy is obviously under way.”

Oklahoma’s revenue collections plunged $945 million, or nearly 20 percent, during the fiscal year that ended June 30, prompting deep cuts across state agencies. The sluggish collections, which included declines across all tax sectors, required cuts to agencies that averaged about 7.5 percent.

Collections for July totaled $370 million, which is about 10 percent above collections for July 2009 and nearly 12 percent above the official estimate, according to preliminary figures.

Collections for all major revenue areas exceeded revenue projections, except for the gross production taxes on natural gas, which were about 27 percent lower than expected, Meacham reported.

Meacham said he was particularly pleased the state sales tax produced about $139 million in July, which is 7.4 percent above the prior year and nearly 6 percent above the estimate.

“I believe this shows that Oklahomans are beginning to have confidence in the economic well-being of the state,” Meacham said.

Net income taxes for July topped prior year collections by nearly 6 percent and exceeded the estimate by more than 26 percent.

Motor vehicle taxes and other revenue, which includes investment earnings, taxes on insurance and alcoholic beverages, also exceeded both prior year collections and the estimate.