TRENTON – While income tax collections saw a big spike, sales and corporate business taxes continued to fall below expectations, according to state Treasury Department data released Friday.
After the last couple of months saw drops in the state coffers from original projections, largely because of bad weather, November’s overall revenues rose 3.8 percent. But discretionary spending didn’t live up to expectations, and once again, less-than-optimal weather conditions were to blame for the sluggish tax collections.
“Harsh weather has a dampening effect on sales tax collection because it slows retail shopping, restaurant dining and every other non-essential activity that requires travel,” said economist Charles Steindel of the Treasury Department
Last month, income tax collections were 14.1 percent higher than original projections at $783 million. However, sales tax revenues ($587 million) were 5.3 percent under the mark, and corporate business tax collections ($29.9 million) were 20.6 percent below original forecasts.
