Emilie Ritter Saunders reports Idaho’s fiscal year-end tax revenue report, which came out today, shows collections exceeded forecasts by $35 million or 1.4 percent.
The Division of Financial Management says sales tax and corporate income tax collections were 7.2 percent higher than expected. Miscellaneous receipts exceeded its forecast by 24.2 percent.
The piece of Idaho’s revenue stream that didn’t perform as expected was individual income taxes. Collections were about $13 million under forecast, which DFM says is because of higher-than-anticipated tax returns.
State analysts predicted Idaho’s main bank account would grow at a rate of 4.4 percent in 2012, but total collections ended up growing by 5.9 percent. That puts total revenue at $2.58 billion for the fiscal year. The increase signals another sign Idaho’s economy is making a turnaround.
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter said in a press release he’s pleased with the economy’s growth. “We begin fiscal 2013 with a lot of uncertainty about the national and global economies and fiscal policies, but with a higher level of certainty and stability in Idaho’s State government,” Otter said. “That should translate into still more opportunity for growth and future prosperity here at home.”
With the positive revenue growth, the state has been able to set aside more than $85 million for its rainy day accounts. Those funds were drained during the Great Recession.
