March State Revenues Don't Reflect Full Impact Of COVID-19 Fallout

Indiana didn’t collect quite as much in taxes last month as it hoped – though the state still headed into the COVID-19 crisis in a strong financial position.

Tax revenues came in about $63 million less in March than the state budgeted for. But Office of Management and Budget director Cris Johnston says that doesn’t yet reflect a significant impact from the ongoing pandemic.

“March’s revenues really reflect the month of February," Johnston says. "So, the month of April will really be the key indicator for what stands ahead of us.”

Despite sales, individual and corporate income taxes all coming in below projections last month, Indiana still sat more than $200 million ahead of where the budget expected heading into April.

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But Johnston says that will change dramatically when revenue numbers are next reported a month from now.

“We do know that the descent will be steep and rapid," Johnston says. "What we don’t know for sure is what the pace of the recovery will be. ”

The state will receive about $3 billion from federal COVID-19 aid packages to help offset the costs of fighting the pandemic and the budget fallout from it.

Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

This is a rapidly evolving story, and we are working hard to bring you the most up-to-date information. However, we recommend checking the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Indiana State Department of Health for the most recent numbers of COVID-19 cases.