LITTLE ROCK — Tax collections in Arkansas were 4.1 percent above forecast in May and 6.6 percent above collections a year ago, the state’s fiscal office reported Monday.
“We’re continuing to slowly climb out of the recession,” said state Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss.
“We’re pretty optimistic at this point,” he said. “Optimistic in terms of making the forecast very easily, but more importantly with the economy we’re feeling that things have kind of turned around for us.”
The state’s revenues for the the first 11 months of the fiscal year totaled $4.2 billion at the end of May, $142.9 million or 3.5 percent above last year and $13.3 million or 0.3 percent above forecast.
The state’s fiscal year ends June 30.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Monday’s revenue report said the state currently has $54.2 million in surplus, and that figure is expected to rise, Weiss said.
“We feel like we will have a pretty good surplus at the end of this year,” he said, adding that it would be up to the Legislature next year to decide how to use that surplus and that one possibility would be to address the projected $250 million to $400 million Medicaid shortfall in fiscal year 2014.
The May report said individual income tax collections totaled $205.8 million, $2 million or 0.9 percent above the monthly forecast, and $8.4 million or 4.3 percent above last year.
Corporate income tax collections totaled $21 million for the month,$3.1 million or 17.4 percent above forecast and $800,000 or 3.9 percent above last year.
Gross receipts totaled $433.9 million, an increase of $10.7 million or 4.8 percent above last year and $7.6 million or 1.8 percent above the monthly forecast.