Texas general fund revenue growth slowed further in fiscal 2024, inching up just 1.1% to $83.78 billion, the state comptroller reported on Tuesday.
Sales taxes, the biggest state-generated revenue source for the Texas budget, brought in $47.16 billion in the fiscal year that ended Saturday, a 1.2% increase from fiscal 2023. All-funds revenue fell 3.6% to $181.12 billion.
Total revenue was largely in line with expectations, according to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Michael Dorman
“The tax revenue results reflect the decline in general price inflation and a slowing in the rate of growth in economic activity, as well as lower natural gas prices,” he said in a statement. “For non-tax revenue, lower-than-expected receipts from the federal government were offset by higher-than-expected interest income.”
The Lone Star State has been on a revenue roller coaster since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. General fund collections slipped 1.5% in fiscal 2020 to $56.98 billion, then rose 6.2% in fiscal 2021 to $60.5 billion, with all-funds revenue jumping 20.4% due to an influx of pandemic-related federal funding.
General fund revenue zoomed 26.4% higher in fiscal 2022 to $76.47 billion, but only grew by 8.3% in fiscal 2023 to raise $82.84 billion.
Oil and natural gas production tax collections have ebbed after
In November, the state’s economic stabilization and highway funds will each receive a fiscal 2025 deposit of $2.74 billion in severance tax revenue, down from fiscal 2024’s $3.06 billion, according to the comptroller’s office.
The triple-A-rated state continues to enjoy a hefty surplus, which state lawmakers tapped during the 2023 legislative session for tax relief,
A report Tuesday from The Pew Charitable Trusts found