CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia’s General Revenue Fund collections for last month were $23.7 million above estimates for April with cumulative collections for the year now standing at $3.49 billion which is 99.9 percent of year-to-date estimates and 4.4 percent above the prior year.
Also, early this morning, Fitch Ratings has announced that they have assigned a AA bond rating for the forthcoming $800 million general obligation bond sale for the Roads to Prosperity program and has upgraded West Virginia’s rating outlook from negative to stable.
“With two months left in the Fiscal Year the state’s economy continues to greatly improve and the numbers are impressive,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “We expect to finish the Fiscal Year in great shape and we are approaching the new Fiscal Year with great expectations.
“The Roads to Prosperity program is about to bear fruit, we’ll be selling $800 million in general obligation bonds this month to launch that historic infrastructure program,” said Gov. Justice. “There has been an uptick in gas well drilling due to co-tenancy legislation and pipeline construction and coal severance taxes remain a stable revenue source.”
“We are continuing our movement forward and the hope is real,” Gov. Justice added. “Our story is unbelievable. If we don’t tell it ourselves, the national media is going to tell it. We ought to be celebrating the happy days and that’s what today truly is.”
April saw a consistent and positive trend on a number of indicators including personal income tax, wage and salary withholding and sales tax.
“The state’s economy under the leadership of Gov. Justice is growing,” said Revenue Sec. Dave Hardy. “Last June the Governor raised our revenue projections for the current Fiscal Year by $170 million and he was right on. We are on a great path.”
Highlights for April include:- Collections of $535.3 million were $23.7 million above estimate and 6.3% ahead of last year. Year-to-date collections of more than $3.49 billion were equal to nearly 99.9%of the year-to-date estimate and nearly $146 million higher than last year.
- Personal income tax collections exceeded estimate in April by more than $13 million due to a 10.4% gain in withholding tax collections. Cumulative collections of more than $1.6 billion were $52.3 million above estimate and 6.5% ahead of last year.
- Corporation net income tax collections exceeded the April estimate by $4.6 million. Year-to-date collections were $1.8 million above estimate and 0.4% ahead of last year.
- Severance tax collections exceeded estimate by more than $5 million in April. Year-to-date collections of $273.7 million were 21.8% ahead of last year.
- Insurance premium tax collections were nearly $5.3 million ahead of estimate in April. Cumulative receipts were more than $6.5 million ahead of estimate.
- Even though consumer sales tax collections fell nearly $3 million below estimate in April, collections were still 3.6%ahead of last year.
- General Revenue Fund collections remain on target to meet or exceed year end estimates.
- Cumulative State Road Fund collections of nearly $667 million were $22.4 million above estimate and 19.2% ($107.5 million) ahead of last year.
For details on other revenues, go to www.budget.wv.gov/reportsandcharts/revenuereports |
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