State revenue decline continues; more money borrowed

Net general revenue collections for March decreased 17.8 percent from a year earlier, according to numbers released Friday.

Collections for the month totaled $461.7 million, down from $561.9 million in March 2009. For fiscal 2010 to date, which runs July 1–June 30, collections total $4.68 billion, down 13.3 percent from the first nine months of fiscal 2009.

Individual income tax collections are down 9.4 percent for the year, to $3.76 billion, though they were up 2.7 percent for the month. Sales and use tax collections dropped 3.9 percent for the month and 6.8 percent for the fiscal year.

Corporate income and franchise taxes dropped 9.1 percent for the month and 12.5 percent for the year, while other collections dropped 14.7 percent for the month and 7.5 percent for the year.

State Finance Director Linda Luebbering said that the state borrowed another $100 million from the state Budget Reserve Fund for cash flow purposes in March. The state has now borrowed $450 million this year, which will be repaid by May 15, according to the release.