State Revenues Continue to Swell

A rising tide lifts all boats. From the AP:

State tax collections, fueled by a growing Alabama economy, grew faster than expected in the first nine months of the current budget year, officials said Tuesday.

Tax collections for the Education Trust Fund, which supports public schools and colleges, totaled $3.8 billion, an increase of $364 million, 10.9 percent, according to finance department reports.

The trust fund collected $190 million more than state officials forecast for the first nine months of fiscal 2006, which began Oct. 1, state Finance Director Jim Main said. Most of the trust fund's money comes from state income taxes and sales taxes...

Tax collections and other revenues flowing to the General Fund, which supports prisons, Medicaid and other non-education agencies, totaled $1 billion in October through June, an increase of $179.4 million, 21.8 percent, according to the finance department.

Much of that growth came from rising interest rates on state deposits and recent tax increases on tobacco and on oil and gas production.

The General Fund collected about $48 million more than state officials forecast for the nine-month period...