Federal stimulus payments and unemployment payments helped ease the pandemic's impact to South Dakota's tax revenue last month.
South Dakota brought in $1 million more in revenue than the Legislature projected for May, but several revenue categories took a hit last month, according to revenue numbers released on Thursday. The May revenue reflects taxes collected in April, the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state's general fund tax revenue for the 2020 fiscal year through May was down 0.3%, or $4.4 million less, than projected, the Bureau of Finance and Management announced.
More: Coronavirus' full impact on South Dakota's budget won't be known for months
The revenue numbers for May show that the state is in "pretty good shape," Gov. Kristi Noem said, but she cautioned that it could be upwards of a year before the full impact shows in the state's economy. While federal money is being spent now, businesses may not survive in the coming year, taking the paychecks on which families depend with them, she said.
"This doesn't mean that we're out of the woods. We've got a long road ahead of us," Noem said.
Noem reiterated on Thursday that a special session of the Legislature won't be held in June. However, there have been discussions in recent months about a special session later in the year once state officials can see a few more months of revenue data.
She said the state is continuing to receive guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department on how it can use $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus funding and she's continuing to ask for flexibility to use that money as revenue replacement.
May's revenue report comes after a grim April report showing an $18 million revenue shortfall.
More: Unemployment payments could top $140 million this year due to coronavirus
South Dakotans received $760 million in one-time federal stimulus money and those payments boosted the state's sales tax revenue, especially at hardware and grocery stores and online shopping, according to the Bureau of Finance and Management.
"It is likely that spending in those categories will return to normal levels over the coming months," the bureau stated.
South Dakotans have also received a total of $130.4 million in unemployment benefits, with $92.3 million of that coming from new federal programs set to expire in the coming months that those on unemployment benefits wouldn't normally receive outside of the pandemic.
Sales and use tax
Sales tax revenue in May was $6.2 million, or 7.1%, less than projected for the month, according to the Bureau of Finance and Management. For the 2020 fiscal year through May, sales and use tax was down $6.1 million.
The sales and use tax accounts for more than 60% of the general fund revenue in the state budget.
Lottery
Lottery revenue was down $1.2 million, or 12.3%, than projected for the month. That revenue is down $4.7 million for the 2020 fiscal year through May.
Lottery revenue accounts for more than 7% of the state's general fund revenue.
Contractor's excise tax
The contractor's excise tax revenue, which represents construction activities in the state, was down 3.8% or $300,000 from the projection for May.
The contractor's excise tax accounts for about 7% of the state's general fund revenue.
Tourism tax
Tourism tax revenue, which funds the South Dakota Tourism Department, is down 3.1% so far in the 2020 fiscal year, and it's down 70% compared to this point last year, Noem said. Gas tax revenue is also down 14.1% compared to May last year because people aren't driving as much, she said.
There have been some visitors to South Dakota in recent weeks, especially in the Black Hills, but Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen said they're still expecting this year to be an abnormal year.
People are starting to feel more comfortable with traveling in the pandemic and bookings for late summer and fall have increased in South Dakota, he said. People are more interested in road trips rather than long-distance trips and the state tourism department has paused its marketing in places like Chicago and Dallas and is instead focusing on advertising in markets with 500 miles of South Dakota, such as the Twin Cities and Denver.
"impact" - Google News
June 05, 2020 at 06:24AM
https://ift.tt/2BtMPnm
Federal stimulus checks, unemployment cushion coronavirus impact on state revenue - Argus Leader
"impact" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2RIFll8
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Federal stimulus checks, unemployment cushion coronavirus impact on state revenue - Argus Leader"
Post a Comment