State revenues open fiscal 2011 flat

DES MOINES – Net state tax collections opened the 2011 fiscal year with a flat showing in July, totaling $2.3 million below the same month one year ago, according to the Legislative Services Agency's monthly report issued Monday.

Last month's 3.8 percent increase in personal income tax receipts was offset by a 7.2 percent dive in sales and use tax collections, but LSA fiscal analysts said that decline could have been affected by calendar issues given that July 31 fell on a weekend while the month of July ended on a Friday during the last fiscal year.

Corporate income tax receipts increased by $11.5 million last month but LSA experts caution that normally it takes a quarter's worth of data to begin to chart reliable trend lines for a new 12-month fiscal period. Likewise, several other tax categories posted double-digit swings both upward and downward in fiscal 2011's opening month.

Gross state receipts finished the month up slightly but ended at a negative six-tenths of 1 percent when tax refunds and school infrastructure proceeds were factored into the overall monthly total. The state Revenue Estimating Conference have forecast a 2.4 percent decline in state tax collections for fiscal 2011 after a dismal showing last fiscal year when net receipts totaled nearly $5.49 billion – compared to $5.739 billion in fiscal 2009 and $6.059 billion in fiscal 2008.

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