Tax revenues exceed estimates for 2nd straight month

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jan 18, 2010 at 12:30:00 PM EST

By no means are we in great shape, but for the 2nd straight month tax revenues have exeeded estimates and expectations:

Better-than-expected income tax collections in December helped New Jersey make up for sagging sales and business taxes, leaving the state's monthly revenue 1.4 percent above expectations, according to a report the Treasury Department released yesterday.
Overall, New Jersey pulled in nearly $2.76 billion in December, up from the $2.72 billion budgeted, according to the report. That gives the state a small reprieve after several months of missed targets prompted outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine to make several emergency spending cuts and readjustments.

The sagging sales tax revenues point to some of the additional difficulties facing the economy as it recovers. Here is a breakdown of the tax revenues:

Image courtesy of screenshot during NJN News

These numbers are exceeding already lower projections and we are still far off last year:

Total revenue in December was down 1 percent from a year ago. Sales tax during the holiday shopping season was down 3.3 percent from a year ago -- which had been the worst holiday sales season in decades -- and 6.4 percent under budget for the month.
The state stands 2.9 percent -- or nearly $373 million -- below budget. The biggest revenue sources are income and sales taxes.

So while this is good news in the short term, the long range concerns still continue to persist. At this point, people will probably settle for any good news they can get. They also released some good news on the pension fund front:

The state also said after a bad 2008, pension funds finished 2009 up 19.8 percent.

You can view the full report from Treasury on the December numbers here.

Jason Springer :: Tax revenues exceed estimates for 2nd straight month

Tags: tax revenues, taxes, deficit, Economy, (All Tags)

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Tax revenues exceed estimates for 2nd straight month | 2 comments

Of Course Christie Will Take All Credit.... (0.00 / 0)

.....for the economic upturn that comes about as a result of Corzine's/Obama's efforts.......and it'll be up to the Democrats to not let him get away with it.

Everything Christie does needs to be put under a spotlight and microscope. If the machine Dems now in charge in Trenton fail to do this, it will be one more indication that they are in cahoots.

by: Nick Lento @ Mon Jan 18, 2010 at 19:03:27 PM UTC