Quick Take: Latest revenue figures show progress, but steep climb remains

On his first full day on the job, new State Treasurer Ken Miller got to announce relatively good news on the state revenue front. December General Revenue (GR) collections were up 13.0 percent from one year ago and were 4.3 percent above the certified estimate.

As can be seen from this chart, December’s collections represent the largest month-over-month increase since the recovery began:

All major revenue sources were up this month compared to one year ago, with the largest gains being seen in personal income tax collections (+$18.7 million, 12.1 percent), corporate income tax (+$12.9 million, 71.8 percent) and general sales tax (+$9.4 million, 7 percent). Although total gross production tax collections also rose compared to last December, this is due to the inclusion of revenues from the gross production on oil; natural gas revenues were just $19.4 million, down from $30.2 million last year (note: under state law, the first $150 million annually of oil revenue goes to various dedicated funds; revenue above $150 million goes to GR).

While December collections show revenues clearly moving in the right direction, we must recall that the first six months of FY ’10 marked rock bottom for state revenues. While the state took in $454.5 million to GR this past month, two years ago, in FY ’09, GR collections were $567.3 million, or 25 percent more than this year. Comparing the entire first-half of FY ’11 to prior years, we see how far below pre-downturn peaks we remain:

This year’s YTD collections are 23.2 percent below the pre-downtown peak of FY ’09 and remain below the level of FY 2005.

Click here to see our newly updated 2-page fact sheet on Oklahoma’s Budget Trends and Highlights; click here for our new monthly Numbers You Need, which compiles key economic and budget data.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Former Executive Director David Blatt joined OK Policy in 2008 and served as its Executive Director from 2010 to 2019. He previously served as Director of Public Policy for Community Action Project of Tulsa County and as a budget analyst for the Oklahoma State Senate. He has a Ph.D. in political science from Cornell University and a B.A. from the University of Alberta. David has been selected as Political Scientist of the Year by the Oklahoma Political Science Association, Local Social Justice Champion by the Dan Allen Center for Social Justice, and Public Citizen of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.

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