OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner State’s economy is robust and tax revenue receipts continue to set new records, a report released last week by the State Treasurer’s Office said.
Detailed in the September edition of the treasurer’s Gross Receipts to the Treasury report, data shows the state took in $16.82 billion in tax receipts for the past 12 months and $1.37 billion for the month of August.
“Gross receipts paint a positive picture of Oklahoma’s economy during a time many people find challenging,” State Treasurer Randy McDaniel, a Republican, said in a media statement. “Inflation, while moderating from a few months ago, remains a concern. Even so, the fundamentals of our economy remain strong with low unemployment and rising personal income.”
McDaniel said receipts from the gross production tax on oil and gas totaled $205.6 million, an increase of $102.5 million, or 99.5%, from the prior year. The August payments are from June production when the average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $114.84 per barrel, also a record high, he said.
Along with increased revenue from oil and gas, McDaniel said more Oklahomans were turning to online shopping. He said use tax receipts for the past 12 months were more than $1 billion, exceeding collections from the prior year by 15%.
The increased tax revenue comes at the same time the state received about $18 million in tribal gaming exclusivity fees for August, the most the tribal gaming industry has ever paid to the state during a single month.
The previous record $17.8 million was paid during May 2021. The fees have added up to $193 million over the past year, 13% more than the same time in 2021. In Oklahoma, 33 tribal nations operate 130 casinos. Those facilities are governed by tribal compacts which are signed by each tribe operating a gaming facility.
McDaniel said the state’s unemployment rate stood at 3% percent in July, a slight increase from the 2.9% reported in June. The Federal Reserve considers a base unemployment rate of 5.0 to 5.2 % as “full employment” for the U.S. economy.
He said August gross tax collections were $1.27 billion, an increase of $201.8 million. Individual income tax collections were $346.5 million, an increase of $51.9 million, or 17.6%.
Corporate tax collections, however, fell. McDaniel’s office said corporate tax collections for August were $16.1 million, a drop of by $99,400, or 0.6%. Combined sales and use tax collections, including remittances on behalf of cities and counties, total $589.9 million were up by $51.3 million – or 9.5% – while sales tax collections totaled $500.6 million, an increase of $34 million, or 7.3%.
Motor vehicle tax collections dropped, McDaniel said. He said the taxes produced $77.1 million, down by $603,965, or 0.8%.
Other collections composed of some 60 different sources including taxes on fuel, tobacco, medical marijuana, and alcoholic beverages, produced $137.3 million – a decrease of $3.2 million, or 2.3%. The medical marijuana tax produced $4.6 million, a drop of $966,031, or 17.5% from August 2021.
The General Revenue Fund, the state’s main operating account, receives less than half of the state’s gross receipts with the remainder apportioned to other state funds, remitted to cities and counties, and paid in rebates and refunds.