Vermont General Fund tax revenues above target; Transportation and Education fall below
Transportation FundSecretary Spaulding also reported on the results for the non-dedicated Transportation FundRevenue for December. Total non-dedicated Transportation Fund receipts of $15.62 million forthe month were below target by -$1.16 million (-6.94%), against the monthly target of $16.78million. The year to date non-dedicated Transportation revenue was $104.62 million versus thetarget of $104.60 million (+$0.01 million, +0.01%).Individual Transportation Fund revenue receipts components for December were: Gasoline Tax,$4.78 million or -8.49% behind target; Diesel Tax, $1.20 million or -33.73% below target; MotorVehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $3.98 million or +12.76% above target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $4.59million or -0.20% short of target; and Other Fees, $1.07 million or -34.02% below the monthlytarget. The December year to date Transportation Fund revenue results were: Gasoline Tax,$31.62 million or -1.47% short of target, Diesel Tax, $7.37 million or -4.56% behind target;Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $24.38 million or +1.79% ahead of target; Motor VehicleFees, $33.21 million or +3.15% above target; and Other Fees, $8.03 million or -7.00% short oftarget.Secretary Spaulding also reported on the results for the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Fund(’TIB’). TIB Fund Gas receipts for December were $1.21 million or -9.89% below target; yearto date receipts of $8.30 million were -1.40% short of target. TIB Fund Diesel receipts were$0.15 million or -32.59% behind target for the month; year to date TIB Diesel receipts were$0.87 million or -6.28% short of the target. TIB Fund receipts are noted below the followingtable: Education FundThe ‘non-Property Tax’ Education Fund revenues (which constitute approximately 11.9% of thetotal Education Fund sources) were released today by Secretary Spaulding. The non-PropertyTax Education Fund receipts for December totaled $11.93 million, or -$0.06 million (-0.47%)short of the $11.99 million target for the month. Year to date Education Fund revenues were$74.97 million or -0.39% behind the year to date target of $75.26 million.The individual Education Fund revenue component results for December were: Sales & Use Tax, $8.49million, or -2.10% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $1.99 million or +12.76%; LotteryTransfer, $1.45 million or -5.31%; and Education Fund Interest, under $0.01 million against a target of$0.02 million (-78.11%). Year-to-date results were: Sales & Use Tax, $53.61 million or -0.12%; MotorVehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $12.19 million or +1.79%; Lottery Transfer, $9.14 million or -3.76%; andEducation Fund Interest, $0.03 against a target of $0.11 million (-75.90%). Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the December 2010 General Fund Revenue results today. December is the sixth month of fiscal year (FY) 2011. Driven mostly by strong results in corporate tax receipts, General Fund revenues totaled $101.86 million for December 2010, and were +$3.46 million or +3.51% above the $98.40 million consensus revenue forecast for the month.The month of December General Fund Revenue reported in the table below includes a reduction of $2.30 million in the ‘Other’ category. This adjustment reflects a special one-year only revenue receipt not included in the Consensus Revenue Forecast; the $2.3 million was corrected cumulatively in the month of December for activity in prior months. Net of this adjustment, year-to-date General Fund receipts of $549.38 million were +$19.93 million, or +3.76% ahead of year-to-date target of $529.45 million. Additional information about this adjustment may be found in the footnote on Attachment 1.The monthly targets reflect the revised Fiscal Year 2011 Consensus Revenue Forecast approvedby the Emergency Board at their July 14, 2010 meeting. December 2010 is the last month thatwill be compared to the July 2010 Consensus Revenue Forecast. The Emergency Board will beadopting a revised Consensus Revenue Forecast at their meeting scheduled for January 14, 2011.Statutorily, the State is required to revise the Consensus Revenue Forecast two times per year, inJanuary and July; the Emergency Board may schedule interim revisions if deemed necessary.Personal Income Tax (PI) receipts are the largest single state revenue source, and are reported Net-of-Personal Income Tax refunds. Personal Income Tax receipts for December were recorded at $52.88million, or +$1.53 million or +2.98% above the monthly target of $51.35 million.Corporate Income Taxes for December are also reported net-of refunds. The December receipts wererecorded at $18.34 million, or +$8.16 million or +80.19% above the monthly target of $10.18 million.Secretary Spaulding noted that, ‘The increase in Corporate Estimates activity over the first half of fiscalyear 2011 was a surprise in that it did not appear to be tied to any discrete improvement in corporateprofitability or any other macroeconomic factor that is currently understood. This activity thereforerepresented an unusual increase that needs to prove itself sustainable over time before these revenues areto be incorporated into the revenue forecast baseline.’The consumption taxes experienced mixed results for December; Sales & Use Tax receipts of$16.98 million fell short of the monthly target by -$0.36 million (-2.10%), while Rooms & MealsTax receipts of $7.83 million exceeded target by +$0.09 million (+1.15%).The year to date results for the four major General Fund categories are as follows: PersonalIncome Tax, $267.53 million (+1.16%); Sales & Use Tax, $107.22 million (-0.12%); Meals &Rooms Tax, $63.22 million (+0.13%); and Corporate, $44.62 million (+68.85%).The remaining tax components include Insurance, Inheritance & Estate Tax, Real PropertyTransfer Tax, and ‘Other’ (which includes: Bank Franchise Tax, Telephone Tax, Liquor Tax,Beverage Tax, Fees, and Other Taxes). The adjusted results for the month of December were asfollows: Insurance Tax, $1.32 million (-13.23%); Estate Tax, $0.49 million (-66.83%); PropertyTransfer Tax, $0.68 million (-18.45%); and ‘Other’, $3.36 million (-57.91%). As adjusted, yearto date results for these categories were: Insurance Tax, $17.45 million (+6.29%); Estate Tax,$5.68 million (-29.11%); Property Transfer Tax, $4.13 million (-13.79%); and ‘Other’, $39.52million (+1.71%).
ConclusionSecretary Spaulding explained that, ‘Comments and analysis on the state of the economy andrevenue results will be presented in detail by the State’s two economists at this weeks’Emergency Board Meeting on Friday, January 14, 2011. In summary, we are pleased to seeimprovement in the General Fund and we await Friday’s revised revenue outlook.’