The April TC-23 report released by the Tax Commission reports revenue collections to the General, Education, and Transportation Funds are all on target with consensus projections through the first nine months of the fiscal year. The April report shows collections through March, for sales and wages that occurred in February. For the third month straight, the General Fund posted a 7% growth rate over the previous fiscal year, which may represent strong collections from online sales taxes. The Education Fund showed increased collections of 7.3% over FY 2019, as income taxes remained solid through the third quarter of FY 2020.
Undoubtedly, next month’s report will show a much different picture of revenue collections. State and county directives to stay at home will likely impact the transportation fund, delayed income tax collections will impact the education fund, and closed businesses are expected to result in fewer sales tax collections than were projected prior to the pandemic.
The Legislature will enter its first-ever electronically held session on Thursday, April 16th. This particular session is also unique because it was called by the Legislature itself. The special session will address federal stimulus packages and budgetary actions to cope with expected revenue shortfalls to the state’s tax collections. While the full extent of revenue changes will be measured in the coming months, projections from Legislative and Executive Branch economists are assisting the legislature in taking action to help Utah get back on track.
The reports referenced in this post are available at the following links:
April Revenue Snapshot
TC-23 Report (Period 9, FY 2020)