FRANKFORT, Ky. — State Budget Director John Hicks reported Friday that December’s General Fund receipts reflected the second highest monthly total ever, $1,258,755,431, a 16.1% increase compared to December of last year.
Total revenues rose by $174.4 million over last December, with increases in all the major taxes: individual income, sales, business and property taxes. December is one of the three largest months for tax receipts, representing about 10% of the year’s total revenues. Receipts have now risen 5.6% for the first half of the fiscal year, and can decline by 2.7% over the last half to meet the recently adopted official revenue estimate of $11.73 billion.
“December’s receipts are much stronger than expected given the high level of unemployment, the expiration of several federal relief programs, and the social distancing measures still affecting consumer behavior,” Hicks said. “Revenue collections are ahead of the recent revised forecast.
“It is expected that receipts for the rest of the fiscal year should compare favorably to the new revenue estimate since the impact of the recently passed federal relief bill was not factored into the assumptions the Consensus Forecasting Group used in their revenue forecast in early December,” Hick said. “Income tax receipts increased by 12.7% in December. Corporation income tax receipts nearly doubled from last December to $145.5 million. Sales and use taxes grew 4.2%. As expected from last month’s report, the timing of property tax collections caught up, and were 16.1% higher than last December with a 3.8% growth rate for the year.”
Among the major accounts:
• Individual income tax collections rose 12.7% in December with withholding receipts growing by the same percent. Through the first half of FY21, receipts in this tax have increased 5.0%.
• Sales and use tax receipts increased 4.2% in December. Year-to-date growth is 5.9%.
• Corporation income tax receipts surged 95.9% over last December, growing 12.0% year-to-date. Limited Liability Entity tax (LLET) tax receipts dropped 1.9% in December, but are up 30.7% year-to-date. Combined, these receipts have risen 17.4% in the first half of the fiscal year.
• Property tax collections grew 16.1% for the month, reflecting some catch-up due to timing patterns and have risen 3.8% year-to-date.
• Cigarette tax receipts rose 13.6% in December and are up 0.6% for the first half of the fiscal year.
• Coal severance tax receipts declined 21.5% in December and are down 11.1% year-to-date.
• Lottery revenues grew 7.0% in December with a monthly dividend payment of $23 million.
• Road Fund receipts for November totaled $121.0 million, a 0.8% decline from December 2019 levels. Year-to-date Road Fund receipts have increased 1.3%. Based on collections through the first half of the fiscal year, Road Fund receipts must grow 10.7% over the second half to meet the newly revised official FY21 estimate of $1.58 billion. Last fiscal year, Road Fund revenues declined 10.4% in the final six months, which included the early and worst economic impact of the pandemic.
• Motor fuels tax receipts fell 8.0% in December and have decreased 5.1∞ for the year. Motor vehicle usage tax collections rose 8.3∞ in December and have grown 11.2∞ through the first six months of the fiscal year. License and privilege receipts grew 27.4∞ for the month and have risen 3.8∞ for the year.
To review receipts report: osbd.ky.gov
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