Arkansas tax revenue falls in October (Updated)

The decline in Arkansas tax collections moderated somewhat in October, with the year-to-date dip moving from 7.2% in September to 7.3% in October.

Total Arkansas tax collections for the first four months of fiscal year 2010 are $1.667 billion, down 7.3% from the same period in 2008 and down 0.9% from forecasts.

Concerns about current and potential tax revenue declines resulted in an Oct. 20 announcement from Gov. Mike Beebe of a $100 million state budget cut.

Updated info: Matt DeCample, spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, sent this statement to The City Wire: “While the numbers are down for the month, they’re not that far out of
kilter from the revised forecast for the year. We expect some increases in corporate income tax revenue to offset some of the across-the-board losses we saw this month. Of course, we’ll continue watching all the revenue closely, but there are no immediate plans to take any additional steps regarding the budget.”

A Tuesday (Nov. 3) statement from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said gross receipts are down “from a combination of weak
consumer sales, business-to-business sales, and weather effects.”

Year-to-date gross receipts collections (primarily from sales and use taxes) totaled $671.5 million, down 9.4% from the same period in 2008 and 1% below forecasts.

Year-to-date individual income taxes totaled $769.2 million, down 5.3% from the same period in 2008 and down 0.4% below forecasts. Year-to-date corporate income taxes are $80.2, down 33% the 2008 period and 4.5% below forecasts.
 
For October, total tax collections were $392.3 million, down 7.4% below October 2008 and 5.4% below forecasts.

October gross receipts collections are $163.1 million, down 8.4% from the 2008 period and 4.1% below forecasts.