LINCOLN — The latest monthly report of state tax receipts appears to be good news for everyone pushing tax cuts or legislative proposals with price tags this year.
The report, released Friday by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, shows the state collected $25.6 million more than predicted in January.
Net tax collections for the fiscal year to date also topped projections.
“We're starting to get some traction here,” said State Tax Commissioner Doug Ewald.
“There's reason for cautious optimism.”
State Sen. Lavon Heideman of Elk Creek, Appropriations Committee chairman, called the report “good news” because it shows revenues headed in the right direction.
But he said the report will not change his budget-making decisions. He wants to see how the trend looks over time.
“I'm a little leery of anything right now,” he said.
He said net tax collections for January this year were 15 percent higher than the same month last year.
The amount collected since the current fiscal year began July 1 was 7.5 percent more than collected during the first seven months of the last fiscal year.
Ewald said an especially encouraging sign is that January's net tax collections exceeded expectations across the board, including sales, individual and corporate income, and miscellaneous taxes.
It's been a long time since the three major tax sources all exceeded forecast, he said.
Ewald credited a strong holiday shopping season for pushing net sales tax receipts 5.8 percent higher than projections. Net individual income taxes were up 10.9 percent, and corporate taxes were up 22.1 percent.
For the current fiscal year, net tax collections hit $2.06 billion. That's up 1.9 percent compared to the revenue forecast issued on April 28 and certified on July 12.
The certified forecast doesn't incorporate the latest forecast issued by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board.
In October, the board increased its projection of tax revenues for the year by $51.9 million. By law, only downward revisions to the forecast are certified.
The board is set to meet Feb. 24 to revise its projections for the current two-year budget period.
The new figure will determine how much money state lawmakers have available for Gov. Dave Heineman's tax-cut proposal, child welfare needs, the University of Nebraska building projects or any of the other proposals on the table.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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