South Dakota grabbed a rebound in revenue numbers in September, but saw the figures tipped out of bounds in October.

 

October’s revenue figures came in nearly $5.6 million lower than the figure set by legislative projections adopted earlier this year. October’s loss comes on the heels of last month’s $3.5 million uptick on projections.

 

This month’s revenue retreat marks the second month in Fiscal Year 2018 that’s posted a loss.

 

“Revenue numbers take a step forward, then a step back,” ASBSD Executive Director Wade Pogany said, “and that’s obviously concerning.”

 

“We saw last year the havoc caused by volatile revenue numbers.”

 

Unclaimed Property Receipts, Contractor’s Excise Tax, Tobacco Taxes and Lottery collection were the main culprits for October’s shortfall, a change from previous month’s where Sales Tax, which posted a mere $65,000 loss in October, had been the main detractor.

 

 

Year-to-Date, however, Sales Tax has posted a more than $4 million loss; accounting for nearly half of the fiscal year’s revenue dip, which sits at slightly more than $8.3 million.

 

Revenue collections in FY18 are better than they were at this time last year, however, by more than $14 million.

 

How that comparison fares in Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s budget address in December remains to be seen. Last year, Gov. Daugaard proposed a one percent increase in funding for schools, which ultimately resulted in a 0.3 percent increase approved by the legislature, as revenue continued to struggle.

 

The compounding effect of downtrodden revenue last year and stagnant improvement this year makes funding proposals uncertain.

 

“As our state’s economy continues to struggle, we’re going to have to be prepared for the possibility of another lean year in funding,” Pogany said.

 

“There are still a few months to come before any final funding decisions are made, but we need to be aware of what’s going on with revenue.”

 

ASBSD will provide updates on state revenue figures and their impact on state aid, as well as on the Governor’s budget address, on the ASBSD Blog and Twitter feed.