Posted on 01/17/2005 10:16:45 AM PST by Gopher Broke
Tax collections soar in December, shatter even rosy forecasts
By BOB LEWIS Associated Press Friday, January 14, 2005
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia collected nearly one-fifth more in taxes last month than it did the previous December, pushing general fund revenue growth for the first half of the budget year to 13 percent, far better than official forecasts.
Total general fund revenues grew by 18.7 percent in December. Even without last year's tax increases, December growth would have reached 15.5 percent and year-to-date growth would have been 10.9 percent, Finance Secretary John M. Bennett said Friday in his monthly revenue report to the governor.
An annual growth rate of 8.2 percent would be sufficient to fund all the spending in the current budget.
With a robust holiday shopping season as a base, the windfall was driven by unusually strong collections in corporate tax payments, Bennett wrote in his summary to Gov. Mark R. Warner. Collections were also strong for "nonwithholding" taxes paid by the self employed or on dividends, as were taxes on the recording of real estate deeds, he said.
Driven by robust growth in the state's economy even before the holiday shopping season, December's growth will only fatten a projected state budget surplus already approaching $1 billion.
It will also renew protests among conservatives in the General Assembly that the $1.4 billion tax increase approved with the Democratic governor's support and over their dissent during last year's fractious legislative marathon was unnecessary.
"That's amazing. It's just amazing," House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said of the revenue growth rate during a telephone interview after the report was released Friday evening.
He said the news would likely prompt demands as early as Monday by some within the House's Republican majority for legislation this year reversing some or all of the tax increases.
Rolling back last year's tax boosts has no chance, Howell said, because even if such a measure passes the House, it would die swiftly in the Senate.
"But doggone it, those things need to be said," Howell said.
The governor's press secretary, Ellen Qualls, said Warner believes last year's tax package is necessary for heading off the sort of shortfalls that totaled about $6 billion in the first two years of his term.
"Are we going to have to have this debate every month until an economic downturn," Qualls said. "How critics can argue (that) we have a transportation crisis and an underfunded higher education system in the same breath they criticize additional revenues defies logic."
Individual income tax payroll withholdings, which account for 62 percent of the state's general operating fund, grew 6.5 percent over December 2003. Those taxes stood at nearly $3.7 billion for the second half of 2004 compared with $3.4 billion for the same period in 2003.
Nonwitholding income tax payments, however, have grown for months at a much faster rate. Year-to-date collections for fiscal year 2005 stood at $496 million at the start of the new year, nearly 24 percent ahead of the $401 million in nonwithholding collections the last six months of 2003.
The tax paid to record wills, deeds, lawsuits and contracts nearly doubled in December, from $27.3 million to $53.2 million.
Sales taxes jumped 17 percent for the month, from $205 million to $241 million, and 13 percent for the year to date, from $1.1 billion to $1.25 billion.
I just hope this doesn't somehow help Warner when he takes on Sen Allen in 2006.
Tell Gov. Warner to give the tax increase BACK to the taxpayers......
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact/email_form.html
Have you seen this?
No, but I knew it was coming.
What? The fact that Warner LIED about needing additional revenue for the "shortfall" that didn't exist?
FMCDH(BITS)
No, I hadn't seen it yet. I've been saying all along the budget surplus will be $1.5B and I'm sticking to my prediction.
D*mn them all.
Better yet. Tell your state Senator that you want your money back. They're the ones that are being stubborn about returning what's rightfully ours.
Calm down and get your facts straight Frank. We've been over this before.
Our problem rests with 1) the RAT governor, 2) the RINO controlled senate and 3) 17 RINO traitors in the House.
The party leadership fought against the tax increase and continues to fight for a wise use of the surplus. Fact is they know no tax-rebate plan would make it through the Senate or across the Governor's desk.
Calling the Republicans idiots does a great disservice to those, including some of your fellow freepers, who've been in the trenches fighting against this.
I don't agree. This tax increase could not have been passed had not a number of REPUBLICANS voted to do so. There has been enough fallout from constituents to cause at least some of them to regret their vote. Preston Bryant, from Lynchburg, has already been demoted from a valued committee post, and I happen to know local Republicans are so angry they are recruiting someone to run against him in '06.
I think it could be rolled back, surely, Virginia will simply vote in a 'Pubbie governor in '06.
Give it back, Mark!
Do you have a link to that article? I'd love to share it with a few co-workers...
BTW - In previous posts re the economy in VA, I had mentioned the extremely low unemployment rate in my area.. so now the tact that the Left is taking here is to talk about "underemployment". Good grief.. when will it end?!
The Virginia economy's smokin'...MUD
We shall address problems #1 & #3 in November of this year, and #2 in November of '07...MUD
Yeah, on the backs of smokers.........history will show that while other taxes may get rolled back, tobacco taxes NEVER get rolled back.
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