LINCOLN: Nebraska state tax revenue improved somewhat in September, but not enough to interrupt a trend of monthly shortfalls. The Nebraska Department of Revenue reported Friday that net general fund tax collections totaled $456 million for September. The number missed the certified forecast by $2 million, or 0.4 percent. The state has now fallen almost $20 million behind projections through the first three months of the fiscal year, which started July 1. Previous monthly revenue reports stretching into last year showed bigger shortfalls. In addition, September is the third-largest tax revenue month of the year, so just getting close in challenging economic times is a positive development, said Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton. “We still missed it, but that’s a lot of money regardless,” he said.
Fulton continued to blame the lagging revenues on the state’s struggling agricultural economy and people waiting for Congress to pass a tax overhaul before they cash in on capital gains. Still, the stronger showing in September likely will reduce pressure for a special session of the Legislature yet this year. “Total receipts were closer to forecast than previous months,” Gov. Pete Ricketts said in a press release. “My team and I continue to closely monitor tax receipts and manage our budgets to protect Nebraska taxpayers.” The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board is scheduled to meet Oct. 27 to review the existing forecast and possibly issue updated projections. The board last met in April.
Nebraska closed out the last fiscal year with $34 million less in tax revenue than expected. Fulton said he would need to see several months of revenues beating forecasts before he’s ready to place much significance on September’s “average” report. “One average month a positive trend does not make,” he said. “We need to see more of these to see a trend.”
