NASHVILLE – Tennessee government finished the first month of the new fiscal year with revenues running $5.4 million less than the budgeted estimate.
But state Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz focused on the fact that state sales tax collection – the main driver of state government funding – is continuing to show signs of improvement with a growth rate of 3.26 percent in August.
“Sales tax collections have shown positive growth for the past five consecutive months, and we believe it points to a slowly recovering economy in Tennessee,” Goetz said in a news release. “Still, we need to continue to closely monitor our spending patterns in the months ahead to keep the budget in a balanced posture for the next governor.”
The state uses an accrual basis of accounting, making August the first month in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Overall August tax revenues were $749.3 million, which is 3.08 percent higher than a year ago but $5.4 million less than this year’s budgeted estimate.