MORGANTOWN — The state will finish the first third of Fiscal Year 2021 with an estimated $110.8 million surplus and $298 million cash on hand, Gov. Jim Justice and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy announced Friday.
Hardy said the numbers are preliminary because there was still one day left in October, but essentially everyting was accounted for except some paper checks that would arrive Saturday and be counted on Monday.
“We couldn’t be happier with these numbers,” he said. October is expected to come in with a $20.4 million surplus.
The end of October marks the end of the first third of FY 2021, he said. Two key numbers are consumer sales tax and personal income tax, which make up 77% of the total revenue picture.
Consumer sales tax is up 6% compared to the same period in October 2019, he said, and up 6.1% compared to the first third of FY 2020. Monthly collections of $107.2 million were $3.8 million above estimate. Sales tax collections for October 2019 were $101.2 million and the first third’s total was $431.5 million.
Personal income tax collections totaled roughly $159 million in October. Collections were roughly $8 million above the monthly estimate and exceeded last October’s tally of $157.6 millon.
Corporation net income tax collections were $116 million year to date, compared to $63.9 million last fiscal year, Hardy said.
Severance taxes took a little upward swing, bringing in $10.6 million in October and totaling $12.2 million above estimate for the fiscal year so far. Last October’s severance tax income was $8.2 million, with $67.4 million for the first four months.
Justice noted that they entered October with an $88 million surplus and $200 million cash on hand from deferred income tax collections; they thought they might have to dip into that surplus for October but were pleasantly surprised.
“We are surpassing all-time highs,” he said, or coming close to it. “West Virginia is truly on the move and we want to keep it going that way.”
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