State Tax Collections

Paul Nelson of NJ Fiscal Folly pointed out a very interesting site to me today. The state legislature's Office of Legislative Services puts out a periodic Revenue Snapshot to document collections and compare them to the budget. In the latest report (from December), we see that

With December revenue collections again outpacing expected growth rates, it appears likely that revenue estimates for Fiscal Year 2006 will be revised upward later this Spring. The magnitude of the upward revision will depend upon important revenue collections in January and April. Eleven of the 14 major State revenues that
the OLS tracks each month are reporting growth rates above what would be needed to reach year end certified targets. Of the State's largest revenues, only the sales tax is under performing expectations at this time.

A little bit more detailed look at the numbers shows that the state has collected nearly $530 million more than it had budgeted through the first six months of the year - $61 for each and every one of the 8.7 million people in our state.
This money does not "belong" to the state. The government should not treat this as found money, and plan to spend it. Unfortunately, it looks like that's exactly what they will do.


Tags: Jersey, Taxes