INDIANAPOLIS | Hoosiers last month did not earn or spend as much money as officials expected, dropping tax collections for the first third of the state's budget year below the amount taken in during the same four-month period last year.
State revenue for October, after excluding September collections not deposited until last month, totaled $1.02 billion.
That was $64 million, or 5.9 percent, less than predicted by the April revenue forecast used to build the state budget; and $59.2 million, or 5.5 percent, lower than last October.
Both sales and income taxes, Indiana's two largest revenue sources, fell short both of forecast expectations and October 2014 results.
Sales tax revenue came in at $592.3 million. That's $26.6 million, or 4.3 percent, less than the estimate; and $17 million, or 2.8 percent, below last October.
Individual income taxes totaled $362.3 million last month, missing the goal by just $1.4 million, or 0.4 percent. However, it also was $8.6 million, or 2.3 percent, less than the same month one year earlier.
Through the first four months of the state's budget year, Indiana revenue is running $61.4 million, or 1.3 percent, behind predictions; and $12 million, or 0.3 percent, less than the same period last year.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence has yet to announce any budget cuts to cope with the revenue shortfall, which still could easily be reversed by a strong holiday shopping season.