From the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
We’re glad to see state revenue numbers for September cut into what was shaping up to be a $50 million budget shortfall for West Virginia’s state government.
The state exceeded revenue projections by about $20 million, or 4 percent, according to an article by the Gazette-Mail’s Phil Kabler.
As Kabler reported, a spike in last month’s numbers was expected because the last day for August tax collections was a Saturday, pushing the collections of most taxes due at the end of the month into September.
Revenue numbers have been failing to hit projections lately, mainly because of a downturn in construction — which provided a temporary economic boost — and lower revenue from the coal severance tax (partly because of lower production in the industry and partly because the Legislature lowered the tax rate).
Severance tax collections for September actually exceeded the projected mark by about $411,000, which is a positive sign. Personal income tax revenue missed its projection by about $244,000, but the sales tax generated $125.82 million, beating projections by $1.6 million.