State Tax Collections Rise for 2nd Straight Quarter, Study Says
State tax collections rose 2.2 percent in the three months ended June 30, the second straight quarterly gain, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government said in a report today.
Thirty of 47 states for which preliminary data were available reported growth in revenue from income and sales taxes, with Florida’s overall tax collections increasing the most, at 13.6 percent, according to the Albany, New York-based institute. State tax revenue still remains 17.2 percent below the level reached in the second quarter of 2008, the report said.
“While this outcome does not imply a full economic recovery for municipalities, it is undeniably a positive result,” wrote Tom Kozlik, a municipal-credit analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, in a report today.
The revenue gain came even as employment fell in 41 states in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year, led by drops of 2.9 percent in Nevada and 2.3 percent in Rhode Island, the Rockefeller Institute said.
“With revenues still below pre-recession levels and question marks surrounding the national economy, states face continued uncertainty at best,” Lucy Dadayan and Donald Boyd, the authors of the report, wrote.
Several states have raised tax rates, which also helps explain some of the revenue gain, the analysts wrote.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael McDonald in Boston at mmcdonald10@bloomberg.net
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