Last month the Washington state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) released their . Cumulative major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue collections were $189 million higher than the .
Here is a quick summary of the total projected GF-S revenue for each biennium:
- $45.288 billion, for the 2017-19 biennium, 16.0% more than the 2015-17 biennium
- $49.363 billion, for the 2019-21 biennium, 9.0% more than the 2017-19 biennium
- $53.170 billion, for the 2021-23 biennium, 7.7% more than the 2019-21 biennium
Some context behind the numbers:
- Cumulative real estate excise taxes (REET) were $25 million (8.0%) higher than forecasted.
- Revenue Act taxes, which consist of sales, use, business and occupation (B&O), utility and non-cigarette tobacco products, make up the bulk of the GF-S revenue. Collections were $131 million (2.7%) higher than forecasted.
In July the ERFC released an that showed a further increase in GF-S revenue collections. Here is how this update compares:
- GF-S revenue collections for June 11 through July 10 were $41.1 million (2.4%) above the June forecast.
- Revenue Act tax collections for the current period were $39.3 million (3.0%) higher than the June forecast.
Washington continues to lead the country in personal income growth. The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released . These estimates showed Washington personal income rose to $434. 1 billion in the first quarter 2018 compared to $426.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017. With 7.4% growth rate, Washington was the highest among the states and the District of Columbia.
Check back with the OPBlog in September for future updates on revenue forecasts.