The monthly report on state revenue seems, on the surface, to be good news for a balanced budget and even socking some money away against future obligations. Gross revenue in July, the first month of the new budget year, was up by 6.1 percent over last year and 3.5 percent above forecast.
But …. A lot of that increase is in income tax collections, a figure that can rise and fall for reasons not always directly related to the economy. The bellwether of economic activity — the sales tax — was off slightly compared with last year and 4 percent below forecast.
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Or maybe this is just a sign that corporate profits are on the rise, but not trickling down.