Virginia revenues up 5.3 percent in September

Virginia's revenues great 5.3 percent in September, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday.

All major sources of revenue grew during the month. It also marked the first time revenues have increased for three consecutive months since April through June of 2013.

September is a major revenue collection month for Virginia. It marks the last month of the first quarter, and estimate payments from individuals, corporations and insurance companies all are due in September.

“I am pleased to see that our revenue collections are up, however, we must remain cautious because the commonwealth has only collected about one-quarter of its general fund revenue estimate to date. My administration will continue to take a prudent approach to help ensure that Virginia remains fiscally strong,” McAuliffe said in a statement.

On a fiscal year-to-date basis, total revenue collections rose 6.7 percent compared with the same time period last year. That is ahead of the revised annual forecast growth of 2.9 percent. Rises in the individual income, corporate and sales taxes contributed to the increases.

On a year-to-date basis, collections of payroll withholding taxes rose 6.3 percent, compared with a 2.7 percent estimate in the state's revised forecast. Non-withholding collections grew 14.7 percent, and sales tax collections grew 4.6 percent, slightly above the 4.4 percent predicted increase. Through the first quarter of the fiscal year, corporate income tax collections grew 12.4 percent, ahead of an estimated 0.9 percent decline.