V.I. government tax revenues are down seven percent in the first two quarters of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, according to Government House.
“While we have taken steps to reduce the operating budgets of departments and agencies by five percent for the remainder of this fiscal year, the tax revenues remain below last year’s collections,” said Office of Management and Budget Director Debra Gottlieb, in a statement from Government House.
Along with cutting operating budgets, the government has also taken steps to reduce overall expenditures by some 13 percent below last year’s levels, Gottlieb added.
“While some tax categories are showing positive numbers when compared to the same period in Fiscal Year 2012, the biggest declines are in the Corporate Income and Real Property Tax categories, which are off by some 22 percent each,” said Finance Commissioner Angel Dawson. Individual income and excise taxes are also down nine percent each, he said.
A tax revenue analysis provided by Government House shows declines in real property, individual income tax, corporate income tax, excise tax and gross receipts tax revenues as compared to the same time frame last fiscal year. Total revenues as of the end of February stood at $206 million, versus $222 million at this point in fiscal year 2012.
Dawson and Gottlieb recently updated Gov. John deJongh Jr. on the latest revenue figures, telling him they anticipate the trend will continue into the slower summer months. Along with the projected budget shortfall, the slow revenue collections also create cash-flow issues for the government, making it harder to meet its obligations in a timely fashion, according to Government House.
