December proved to be another month of increased revenues for Oklahoma as collections were 22 percent higher than a year ago. However, gross production taxes on oil and gas came in below state estimates.
State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger released figures this week showing the general revenue fund collections totaled $512.6 million, a figure that was $36.6 million or 7.5 percent above the monthly estimate. It was also $93.1 million or 22.2 percent above the December 2016 collections.
“Once again we exceeded the monthly estimate for the month and that is a positive sign,” said Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger. “Conversely, I would caution anyone who is using unrestrained adjectives to describe our current financial position. This has been, and will continue to be, a touch and go situation as we climb our way out of the economic damage caused by the downturn in the energy sector. “
Gross production tax collections of $24.5 million were $15.3 million, or 38.4 percent, below the estimate and $9.2 million, or 59.8 percent, above the prior year.Natural gas collections of $20.6 million were $4.9 million, or 19.1 percent, below the estimate and $7.2 million, or 54 percent, above the prior year.Oil collections of $4.0 million were $10.4 million, or 72.5 percent, below the estimate and $2.0 million, or 98.7 percent, above the prior year.
Total collections over the first six months of the fiscal year were $2.7 billion which is $75.2 million, or 2.9 percent, above the year-to-date estimate and $278.1 million, or 11.6 percent, over the year-to-date for 2016.
Total income tax collections were up by $29.7 million, or 15.9 percent for the month, with individual income tax collections coming in 21.8 percent above prior year collections. Corporate income tax again made no contribution to the General Revenue Fund due to erratic patterns.
“For months I have urged cautious optimism and that is what has been playing out with the returns to the General Revenue Fund, but do not mistake these small increases as an indicator that we don’t need to create new recurring revenue. The state will continue the cycle of using one time funds to plug the budget hole if we do not make significant structural changes to our budget. The modest increases we are seeing month-to-month will not fix the state’s ongoing budget issues,” said Doerflinger.
“The incremental progress we have seen the past few months is mostly due to law changes from last session taking effect, but it also shows that when the Legislature does act, it can make an impact on the state’s bottom line,” Doerflinger added.
Motor vehicle tax collections o.f $16.0 million were $1.3 million, or 7.7 percent, below the estimate and $628,000, or 4.1 percent, above the prior year.
