The economy has improved, and now we’re seeing one of the lagging indicators catch up: Tax revenues. Well, some of them:
State and local tax collections rose above year-ago levels in the fourth quarter for the first time in more than a year as gains in property taxes and corporate income taxes offset continued declines in other revenue sources, the Census Bureau said.
State and local governments collected $360 billion in tax revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 0.8% from the same quarter a year ago, the Census said week. It was the first year-over-year gain since the third quarter of 2008.
Property taxes, the primary source of funding for many local governments, rose 5.8% to $170 billion.
The report suggests that tax revenue is no longer in the freefall that followed the aftermath of the recession.
…
The gain in property taxes offset declines in other sources of funding. Personal income taxes fell 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009 versus the same period a year earlier. That was the smallest drop in a year and compared with declines of 12% and 28% in the two preceding quarters
Overall good news. When employment picks up, maybe the personal income tax numbers will go up, too.