Georgia officials report a 3.1% decrease in tax collections in October | Georgia

(The Center Square) — Georgia officials reported a 3.1% decrease in overall General Fund receipts for October, which surpassed $2.6 billion.

The state reported greater than $72.2 million in motor gasoline taxes accumulated ahead of a suspension took impact in September. Without the ones revenues, October’s web tax collections diminished through 5.7% or more or less $154.9 million from October 2022, when collections totaled greater than $2.7 billion.

During the primary 4 months of the fiscal yr, earnings collections larger 4.2% or $428.6 million from final yr. However, officials mentioned that with out motor gasoline tax adjustments, revenues diminished through 2%.

Georgia officials won’t report gasoline taxes for the foreseeable long term. On Wednesday, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, issued an government order extending a state of emergency and protecting a gasoline tax suspension in position.

Despite the slight downward flip in tax collections, the state is in a first rate monetary place because of an inflow in federal cash. A Georgia Budget & Policy Institute report displays Georgia had a $16 billion “surplus” on the finish of fiscal 2023.

“We do have a large surplus, and we’re very fortunate,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones, a Republican, mentioned all the way through a Tuesday morning press briefing ahead of the earnings figures had been publicly launched. “It goes to how fiscally responsible we’ve been as a state, as a legislative body and as well as our governor. Obviously, he’s led the charge on allowing us to have such a good surplus to work with.

“The complete legislative procedure, our one constitutional legal responsibility is to stability the funds and determine what’s the absolute best use for bucks,” Jones added. “There are some companies that want a little extra assist from a body of workers perspective. The surplus cash may well be a just right way to get there.”

The non-profit taxpayer advocacy group Truth in Accounting recently gave Georgia a “C” financial grade, ranking the state 23rd in the country for its fiscal health. According to the group’s “Financial State of the States 2023” report, Georgia had just about $46.91 billion to pay expenses totaling greater than $46.92 billion.