I've been in contact with the State Tax Commission and here are the tax
collection figures for May and to date for the fiscal year.
May 96 May 97 FY96 to Date FY97 to Date
$80,103,228 $89,553,532 $1,129,021,293 $$1,159,335,515
Increase of $9,450,304 Increase of $30,314,222
Individual Income Tax Collections are up $2,466,037 and Corp. Income Tax
collections are up $9,001,906 for May 97 as compared with May 96. Sales
Tax collections are up $1,301,737 for May 97 as compared with May 96. Slight
decreases in collections for gas tax and other minor items offsets a bit of
the May gain.
The overall tax collection gain is reflective of a moderately growing
economy in the State. Some gains may be offset by tax refunds. Commitment
to paying back the K-12 holdback from last year will be made out the reserve.
There is intense pressure from Correction for more money to pay for housing
inmates out of state in Texas and Minnesota.
I'll be at a meeting next week with a number of legislators and Speaker Mike
Simpson to talk about the financial state of the state. I'll raise the
issue of state employee salaries again.
Tom Trail, Representative
District 5
Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
2039 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel: (208) 882-6077
Fax: (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail@moscow.com