State revenues for the month of May failed to live up to economists’ expectations, but Administration Secretary Justin Johnson says better-than-projected performances in previous months will more than make up for the fiscal setback.
The nearly $68 million in general fund revenues last month fell about 7 percent short of the target, due largely to underperformance in the personal and corporate income tax. Nonetheless, the state remains about 1.7 percent above target for the fiscal year to date, and Johnson says he expects the $21 million general fund cushion to hold up.
“We expected a portion of our prior month’s cushion would be needed to cover May,” Johnson said in a release. “However, we feel the remaining cushion of $21 million should be sufficient to ensure meeting the full year revenue target for fiscal year 2015.”
Sales tax and room and meals tax revenues exceeded expectations in May. Transportation fund revenues came in on target for May. Education fund revenues came in 4 percent below estimates for May, and are off by 0.7 percent for the year.
