Flat Budget Won’t Budge Despite Oil Tax ‘Bonanza’

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

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November's $34.8 million in oil tax revenue was a "bonanza" for Oklahoma's general revenue fund, the State Finance Director said Tuesday.

The AP with the synopsis:

State finance officials said a boom in Oklahoma’s oil patch is helping to boost general revenue collections more than 20 percent over the same time last year.

The Tulsa World’s Barbara Hoberock on the details:

The general revenue fund received $34.8 million in oil tax revenue in November, compared to none a year ago.

In a press release, Office of State Finance Director Preston Doerflinger said the oil revenue was a “bonanza” for the state.

“But collections also were strong across all major tax categories,” he said.

Doerflinger said the positive revenue news reinforced the state’s “ongoing” recovery from the recession and evidence that Oklahoma was outperforming “most other states and the nation as a whole.”

Gov. Mary Fallin welcomed the news, but said Oklahoma’s recovery wasn’t over.

“We expect a flat budget for 2012,” Fallin said in the OSF statement. “As such, it remains important for agencies to continue to tighten their belts and to pursue reforms and efficiencies that preserve revenue and save taxpayer dollars.”