Despite great shopping weather, South Dakotans didn’t buy as much in May as the state expected. According to the latest LRC report on general fund receipts, state sales tax revenue in May was down 1.2% from May 2017 receipts and 5.7% shy of the Legislatures revised budget projection:
Luckily, insurers increased their premiums and South Dakotans smoked more cigarettes, so insurers’ income tax and tobacco tax offset the sales tax slump, and we still came out $181,300 ahead of revenue projections in May.
With just one month to go in Fiscal Year 2018, state general fund revenues are down $3.542 million, –0.25%, from where the Legislature was hoping they’d be at this point:
But don’t worry: if the state spends money at the same monthly rate shown in this report for the last eleven months, we’ll have spent $17.1 million less than budgeted. If revenues. Let June show decreased revenues proportionate to the year-to-date figure, and Governor Daugaard will be able to brag about one final budget surplus around $13.3 million.
Tax and spend republicans will even get a bigger paycheck when insurance premium taxes are paid to the state from the insurance companies…ie, South Dakotan’s, with this next round of yuuuuge increases. This is a huge hidden tax that no one ever discusses because…well…republican government and all of that. So the state will have a surplus built upon the backs of the ACA recipients, funny how all that works.
So while Daugaard throws his arm out of joint patting himself on the back, someone out there in media land should ask him how those insurance premium taxes helped him over the hump.
Good for South Dakota. Loseranna is in danger of closing down SNAP program because of budget shortfalls. !9 % of the most “venerable” will be cut off if Guv can’t get special session to find resources for the poor.
Wingnuts want to take mental health services away from more poor people so they make it harder to get Medicaid in some states.
No, they didn’t seem nice.