Quarterly Revenue Forecast reveals strong gains

The Economic & Revenue Forecast Council is tasked with tracking the state’s economic activity and producing a quarterly forecast of state general fund revenue.  The winter quarter forecast is used by the Legislature to assist in preparing biennial and supplemental budgets.

Today, the quarterly forecast revealed exceedingly healthy revenue collections, coming in $452M above the amount forecasted just last quarter.  Overall, this amounts to an estimated increase in new revenue of about $1.45B for the biennium ending June 2023. 

A few reasons for the increase in revenue collections include strong retail sales, a surge in vehicle sales in January (and overall strong sales) and continued robust real estate excise tax (REET) collection from the sale of homes and commercial property.

The Legislature will use this quarterly forecast to put the finishing touches on a supplemental budget proposal for the state’s operating budget, followed by a release of the proposal in the coming days.  In addition, this revenue forecast may very well affect capital and transportation proposals, as extra revenue could be used for transportation and infrastructure spending in those two proposals.  WPPA staff will review supplemental operating, capital, and transportation proposals as they are released, and will post pertinent information on this website.