January 2nd, 2020 by WCBC Radio

Gov. Jim Justice reported today that December 2019 revenue collections were $6.9 million above estimates, which was 1.2% above prior year receipts.

The month of December also marks the end of the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2020. Cumulatively, FY 2020 is just 1.4% below the record-breaking prior year receipts. After a disappointing two months that began the fiscal year, the last four months came in at $16.4 million above estimates, exceeding expectations. 

“The thing to remember is that most of the surplus we saw in the historic FY 2019 numbers was built into the FY 2020 budget, and we are pacing close to those record-setting numbers,” Gov. Justice said. “It’s really phenomenal. 

“Our state is still in great financial health and we’re doing well in lots of areas,” Gov. Justice added. “That said, we are always looking at all of our numbers every single day because we know that even though we’ve done so much, there are always areas where we can continue to improve. Secretary Hardy and his team at the Department of Revenue are going to stay on top of it.”

The following is a summary of December General Revenue collections:

December General Revenue Fund collections of $428.2 million were $6.9 million above estimate and 1.2% above prior year receipts. Year-to-date collections of more than $2.203 billion were nearly $33.4 million below estimate and 1.4% below prior year receipts. The cumulative shortfall was due to a significant slump in energy prices, particularly for natural gas and slower than anticipated growth in income withholding tax revenues partially due to a work stoppage involving interstate gas pipeline projects. Coal sales have also recently slowed due to both a global economic slowdown with lower steel demand and stiffer domestic competition from natural gas in the electric power generation market.