By News Service of Florida
State general revenue collections for May exceeded expectations by $231.8 million, driven by sales tax and earnings on state investments.
The Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research reported Monday that the state collected $4.66 billion in net general revenue in May, about 5 percent above the amount anticipated in a revised January forecast.
General revenue is closely watched because it plays a major role in funding education, health and prison programs.
Sales tax collections, which make up the largest part of state revenue, totaled $3.22 billion for May. The total was $143.3 million more than forecast, according to the office release.
Earnings on state investments totaled $158.7 million, $38.9 million more than the projection,
Meanwhile, corporate income taxes, which accounted for $329.9 million in revenue during the month, was $6.7 million under the forecast.
Deeper into the numbers, revenue from tourism was up 2 percent in May and documentary stamp taxes on real estate transactions topped the forecast by 9.8 percent. Meanwhile, taxes generated from auto sales were 3.5 percent lower than expected and beverage taxes came in 23.1 percent lower than predicted for the month.
As the U.S. annual inflation rate climbed from 3.8 percent in April to 4.2 percent in May, largely driven by surging energy and gasoline costs, state economists continue to use the monthly report to warn that Floridians are saving at a “subpar” rate.
The typical rate of earnings saved should be around 7 percent. According to the report, the rate in May was 3 percent, the lowest since June 2022.