State Revenue Falls Nearly $1B Below Estimates

(IIB Photo/Alex Brown)

The fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state continues to worsen. The Indiana State Budget Agency says General Fund revenues totaled $1.2 billion in April, more than $960 million below the most recent revenue forecast.

April’s revenues also fall just over $1 billion below revenue from the same month last year.

The state says weaker than usual volume of tax payments due to the extension of payment deadlines, as well as casino closures due to the pandemic were primary drivers of the drop in collections for April.

Collections in all categories, including sales tax, individual income tax, corporate tax, riverboat wagering and racino wagering, were all below the monthly estimate in March. The latter two were $0 due to the Indiana Gaming Commission closing all casinos in mid-March.

“Going into May and June, significant fluctuations are expected and deviations from monthly estimates are likely as the rapidly changing economic outlook will most likely impact monthly collections,” the agency said. “Additional uncertainty will persist over the coming months, particularly with individual income tax and corporate taxes, with the alignment of Indiana’s tax filing and payment due date with the federal deferral to July 15.”

Year-to-date, the state has collected more than $12.6 billion, which is 6.9% lower than the revenue forecast and 4.4% below collections through the same period of the previous fiscal year.

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