Military museum, fire taxes approved by Terrebonne voters
November 25, 2015
Boil water advisory for North Lafourche
November 30, 2015
Louisiana’s state government is reporting a drop in tax revenues from the previous year, while Terrebonne Parish is drawing back its budget in anticipation of its own drop.
A release from the state’s Department of the Treasury reports a 14 percent decrease in state revenues to date for its current fiscal year. At the same time, Terrebonne has amended its budget to note a drop in sales tax revenue for this year.
Terrebonne and the state operate on different budget schedules. Terrebonne’s budget is based on the calendar year, while Louisiana’s budget is based on a fiscal year that started in July. At this time last year, Louisiana had tax revenues of $2.53 billion. This year, revenues are at $2.18 billion.
The state has seen drops in almost all tax receipts in comparison to the 2014-15 fiscal year. Individual income, severance and corporate/franchise tax receipts all dropped in the year to date since July. Severance tax revenue is down $127 million over that time, a 41 percent drop. Corporation and franchise tax receipts are currently in the red, with receipts at negative $211 million, in comparison to bringing in $7 million by this time last year. Only sales and gasoline and special fuel tax receipts are up at the state level, for a modest increase of $20 million combined.
While sales taxes have gone up in Louisiana, Terrebonne has seen sales tax revenues fall off in conjunction with the region’s current economic swoon.
The parish council agreed to adjust the sales tax revenue for 2015 by $2.3 million, as suggested last week by Terrebonne chief financial officer Jamie Elfert. She said the reduction amounts to a 5.7 percent drop.
According to Elfert, the drop will have effects through next year due to the process of sales tax revenue making it to the parish.
“The store collects it in October, they remit it to the sales tax in November, we get it in December. So we have not even gotten October collections, yet,” Elfert said. “And then we’ll get November and December in January and February of next year. So I’m adjusting the budget all the way for sales taxes through December that we will not get paid until as late as February.”
The downturn has also affected Terrebonne Parish’s planning for 2016. Due to the drop in sales tax receipts and state mineral royalties, Elfert and her department have reduced the budget for the upcoming year. While the 2015 budget totaled $212.9 million, the 2016 version checks in at $202.1 million, representing a $10.8 million cut.
Elfert said the decrease in the budget does not mean operations are at risk, but rather that 2016 could feature fewer capital projects such as infrastructure improvements. Terrebonne’s chief financial officer said this is due to a forecasted drop in state mineral royalties. A portion of the royalties pay for the parish’s day-to-day operations, and anything above that listed portion goes toward capital projects. Elfert reduced the capital projects in the budget due to the royalties’ inconsistent nature.
“The reason we do that in our budget process is because state mineral royalties do go up and down,” she explained. “They go sky high; they drop down real low. So, you don’t want to operate a government’s everyday business on something that is that volatile. You want to try to find the median and use the normal stuff coming in for your operations, and then anything in excess of that you want to use for your infrastructure.” •
