TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Email
Print
State Revenue Erodes Further As Sales Tax Brings In Less
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 24, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Florida's revenue for May came in $123.1 million below estimates, with plummeting sales and corporate income tax accounting for most of the shortfall.
For the third consecutive month, "the majority of sources came in under estimate ... continuing to show the effects of the economic slow-down," analysts at the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research said Monday in a written report.
The news came on the same day political groups and Republican lawmakers sparred over a proposed constitutional amendment to swap a portion of the property tax for an increase in the sales tax.
"This is probably the largest state deficit, on a percentage basis, any state has ever faced," said Jim Zingale, head of the state Department of Revenue from 2000 to 2007. He's now fiscal research director for the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida. Zingale made his remarks during a news conference at which he criticized the proposed tax swap.
Among the worst news about the condition of Florida's coffers in May:
•Sales tax collections ($1.5 billion) are down $42.8 million from the estimate released by analysts at their March conference, and down $260 million from May 2007.
•Corporate income tax collections ($153.5 million) are down $23.6 million from a March estimate and down $114.4 million from May 2007.
•Insurance premium tax collections ($148.8 million) are down $11.2 million from a March estimate and down $20.1 million from May 2007.
•Year-to-date sales tax collections are down $900.1 million from 2007 levels, and down $134.2 million from the March estimate.
•The total revenue drop for 2008 is 8 percent, or nearly $2 billion from 2007 levels, and $264 million from the March estimate.
Within the sales tax numbers, the state's largest revenue source, tourism yielded 0.5 percent or $1.8 million more than expected, while construction brought in $3 million or 3 percent more than expected. But auto sales tax fell short by $27.4 million or about 9 percent, and business-related sales tax fell short by $15 million or 4.5 percent.
In the narrow category of good news, the state tax on real estate transactions generated $1.7 million more than analysts predicted this spring - a faint sign of hope for the real estate market that Gov. Charlie Crist attributed last week at least partly to the effects of the Amendment 1 property tax cut.
Also on the rise: drinking. The state's beverage tax yielded $3.2 million more than expected in May, bringing the year-to-date total to $558 million, about $9.2 million more than predicted so far for 2008, though still a 3 percent drop from 2007 levels.
Email
Print
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
