Tax receipts fall below projections – again

INDIANAPOLIS – State tax revenue in March failed to reach projections for the seventh time in the last nine months, raising questions about how much spending the state can afford during the next two years.

State Budget Director Brian Bailey revealed the revenue report Wednesday (April 8), the day before Senate Republicans planned to release their budget. Already, Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, has said he’d draft a two-year plan that spent less than the version approved by the House earlier this year.

The committee is expected to vote on Kenley’s plan Thursday, which will send it to the full Senate for action.

Tax receipts in March were 1.7 percent below estimates released in December.

During the first three quarters of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, revenues are about 1.1 percent below estimates. That’s about $109 million. However, revenue is higher than during the same period last year.

The report also showed that sales tax collections, riverboat wagering collections and racino wagering collections were all below the estimated monthly revenue, while individual income tax and corporate tax were above.

 

Article writer Erika Brock is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.