State tax receipts exceed projections

July 15, 2021, midnight ·

Bar graph of tax receipts
Two bars on right show comparison actual to projected receipts (Source: Nebraska Department of Revenue

A year ago, members of the state’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board were projecting net tax collections of just over $5 billion for the following 12 months.

But the latest report from the Department of Revenue, released Thursday, shows actual collections for the fiscal year ending June 30 were nearly $6 billion, 19 percent above the original forecast.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said the strong revenues would help the state offset $952 million worth of local property taxes. Those taxes amounted to just over 4.5 billion last year.

Tom Bergquist, director of the Legislative Fiscal Office, said Nebraska is one of many states that saw higher than projected revenues. Bergquist said those tax receipts could reflect stimulus payments sent out by the federal government.

“The consumer takes their $2,400 check and goes and has their patio redone. So that $2,400 may show up in sales tax, and then $2,000 might show up as income for the guy doing the patio and that may show up in income tax receipts,” Bergquist said.

Berquist said the question is whether the higher revenues will be sustained, or whether, like previous revenue booms, they will be followed by a sharp drop.