GRF receipts beat estimate by 0.7% in October
Revenue improvement does not guarantee next budget will grow
OKLAHOMA CITY — October
General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections of $471.6 million were $3.4 million,
or 0.7 percent, above the official estimate upon which the FY 2015 appropriated
state budget is based and $23.3 million, or 5.2 percent, above prior year
collections.
As
state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state
government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual
state budget. GRF collections, reported by the Office of Management and
Enterprise Services (OMES), are revenues that remain for the appropriated state
budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections,
reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state prior
to rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.
Total
GRF collections for the first four months of FY 15 were $1.853 billion, which
is $82.4 million, or 4.7 percent, above the estimate and $141.5 million, or 8.3
percent, above the prior year.
“Revenues
are solid, but that doesn’t guarantee more money to appropriate in the next
state budget,” said Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information
Technology Preston L. Doerflinger. “The current budget contains a significant
amount of one-time money used to fill revenue holes and address pressing needs,
which means next year’s budget effectively starts in a hole. The state has to
recoup that money via GRF collections before it will have true revenue growth
for the budget. This dilemma at a time of lower oil prices and increasing costs
for off-the-top apportionments means a flat appropriated budget could be the
best case scenario next year.”
The
cost of mandatory apportionments, which are policies that cause revenue to be
automatically directed away from the GRF to other specific purposes, is
expected to continue rising.
“Policymakers
should be cautious to avoid any more of this type of autopilot budgeting until
the current situation is more fully understood and considered. It can be touchy
and difficult work, but addressing fiscal issues like costly off-the-top
apportionments needs to happen if priorities like schools, teacher pay, public
safety and infrastructure are to receive the funding they want,” Doerflinger
said.
In
FY 07, the GRF received 55.2 percent of all state tax revenue collections. In
FY 14, the GRF received just 46.7 percent of state tax collections due in large
part to the increasing cost of mandatory apportionments. If current policies
remain in place, by FY 17 the GRF will receive just 43.8 percent of gross
collections, according to the latest state budget outlook multiyear trend
projection by OMES.
“Just
this week I heard an idea to chop more off the top of the budget to finish a
museum. Why anyone would even suggest more off-the-top apportionments when they’re
already so costly is beyond me,” Doerflinger said.
Doerflinger
is director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.
Major
tax categories in October contributed the following amounts to the GRF:
-
Total
income tax collections of $211.6 million
were $18.3 million, or 9.5 percent, above the estimate and $13.5 million,
or 6.8 percent, above the prior year.
Individual income tax collections of $204.8 million were $20.7 million, or
11.2 percent, above the estimate and $10.8 million, or 5.6 percent, above
the prior year.
Corporate income tax collections of $6.7 million were $2.4 million, or
26.6 percent, below the estimate and $2.7 million, or 68.8 percent, above
the prior year.
-
Sales
tax collections of $169.9 million
were $5.3 million, or 3.2 percent, above the estimate and $11 million, or
6.9 percent, above the prior year.
-
Gross
production tax collections of $11.4 million
were $7.9 million, or 40.8 percent, below the estimate and $0.4 million,
or 3.8 percent, above the prior year.
Natural gas collections constituted the full deposit to the GRF. No oil
collections were received or expected because of statutory requirements
directing the first $150 million in oil collections to designated funds,
mostly for education.
-
Motor
vehicle tax collections of $18.2 million
were $1.3 million, or 7.9 percent, above the estimate and $1.6 million, or
9.4 percent, above the prior year.
-
Other
revenue collections of $60.6 million
were $13.7 million, or 18.4 percent, below the estimate and $3.2 million
or 5 percent, below the prior year.
Monthly revenue tables are available on the OMES website:
http://www.ok.gov/OSF/News/October_2014_Financial_Report_Data_Tables.html
Media Contact
JOHN ESTUS
Director of Public Affairs
(405) 521-3097 | john.estus@omes.ok.gov
About the Office of Management and Enterprise Services
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services provides financial, property, purchasing, human resources and information technology services to all state agencies, and assists the Governor’s Office on budgetary policy matters. Our mission: To lead, support, and serve. For more information, visit OMES.OK.gov.
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