U.S. states saw their tax revenue drop by about $31 billion, or 6 percent, from March through August, compared to the same period a year earlier, as the pandemic triggered economic shutdowns across the country, according to data from 44 states compiled by the Urban Institute.
The scale of the drop appears smaller than expected, relative to the depth of the economic contraction, and comes after several states have reported that their revenue didn’t decline as much as anticipated despite business shutdowns and increased unemployment. In August, when much of the country was reopening, state revenue climbed about 1.1 percent from a year earlier, the Urban Institute found.
Didine Erskine, a certified financial planner (CFP), is the founder of The Erskine Group and an independent financial planner with LPL Financial.
She also serves as a visiting lecturer at Texas A&M University, where she teaches courses in financial planning and practice management.
Wayne Rushton served more than four decades at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, culminating in his role as senior deputy comptroller and chief national bank examiner. In that capacity, he chaired the agency's Committee on Bank Supervision and represented the OCC on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's Task Force on Supervision.
Earlier in his career, Wayne led the OCC's Multinational Banking Division and held several senior examination and supervisory positions. He gained extensive experience managing troubled institutions during the late 1980s and early 1990s, including service as the comptroller's deputy at the Resolution Trust Corporation and as director of the OCC's Special Resolutions Unit. He also completed a special assignment with the U.S. Department of Justice as a legislative fellow in the 97th Congress.
Following his government service, Wayne was a senior advisor at Promontory Financial Group, where he helped clients navigate complex regulatory examinations and enforcement issues and strengthen relationships with supervisory agencies.
A 2002 graduate of the University of Kentucky, Nesbitt has worked at newspapers in Kentucky, Indiana, China, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Vermont and South Carolina.
The tax figures come as Republicans in Washington balk at extending aid to states and cities to help cover budget deficits that are expected to continue as the coronavirus weighs on the economy. Experts say that states’ financial outlooks could worsen as the effects of the stimulus bill fade and high unemployment reduces tax bills next year.
The August increase should be viewed with caution since income-tax deadlines were pushed back to July, which could have resulted in some revenue being processed later, according to Lucy Dadayan, senior research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Personal income-tax collections, which rose 3.8 percent in August, were in some cases supported by backlogged unemployment insurance benefits subject to withholding tax, Dadayan said.
Between March and August, tax revenues fell 6.4 percent year over year, with 36 states reporting declines over that period, the report said. Between March and August, eight states, including Washington and Georgia, reported growth in tax revenue.
“Due to the shifting in timing of tax receipts this past year, it is crucial to view August year-over-year revenue gains and fiscal year to date data with caution,” Dadayan said in the report.