Hunter
06/02/21
State revenues are seeing double-digit increased in all major categories as Iowans start spending stimulus checks, tax refunds and money saved up during the pandemic.
The Gazette reports that the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency indicates state tax collections are up more than a billion dollars this fiscal year. In addition, collections from casinos have hit record or near-record highs in two of the last three months.
Currently the year-to date growth is at 19.3 percent. Jeff Robinson is a senior tax analyst for the Legislative Services Agency, and he doesn’t believe the figure will hold up when the fiscal year is reconciled by September, but says the increase will be “impressive.”
Robinson said that the surge in state revenue over the past two months indicates that Iowans believe it’s OK to go places and buy things again.
Iowa is still struggling with employment as businesses open back up and try to hire back workers who were idled by the pandemic. Many of those workers are still out of the workplace because of child care concerns or have secured jobs in different fields.