Montana's tax collections beat forecasts after budget cuts
HELENA — Montana officials say tax collections are coming in above expectations and may end up exceeding projections when the state's financial year ends June 30.
The Legislative Fiscal Division's update released Wednesday says final 2018 revenues could range between $2 million below to $21 million above the $2.4 billion estimate the Legislature used to set the two-year state budget in 2017.
Any amount within that range would somewhat ease financial pressure on the state after multiple rounds of spending cuts and a special legislative session called last year to close a projected budget shortfall.
Legislative analysts cautioned the increase in tax collections is partially due to people to paying next year's property taxes early because of changes to the federal tax law. The revenue from those early payments could drop off in the final two months of the year.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-s-tax-collections-beat-forecasts-after-budget-cuts/article_83683a01-cced-5592-a290-f653dcc45983.html
(short article)