Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight
South Dakota is on track to meet or exceed its revenue estimates by the end of the fiscal year, the Legislature’s lead budget expert said Thursday.
The state is about $10 million ahead of its year-to-date target, said Jeff Mehlhaff, chief fiscal analyst for the Legislative Research Council’s. The state fiscal year ends June 30.
“We’re doing well on the three big revenue sources,” Mehlhaff told lawmakers Joint Appropriations Committee Thursday, referencing sales tax, contractor’s excise taxes and lottery revenue.
The figures Mehlhaff shared are through March. He expects to receive April revenue totals next week.
The contractor’s excise tax is the state’s third-largest source of revenue, and it’s “very close to target,” Mehlhaff said. The state estimated that it would collect 2.4% more revenue this fiscal year than it did the year before. As of the end of March, year-to-date collections were up 2.1%.
Lottery revenue, the second-largest source, is within $43,000 of the state’s year-end target, Mehlhaff said.
Sales taxes represent the state’s largest revenue source. Sales tax collections are about $6 million ahead of the state’s target
“We have three months left, so we could get even further ahead,” Mehlhaff said.
Smaller revenue sources are within range of the state’s target estimates.
The committee will get year-end totals at its next meeting on July 20, and hear revenue targets for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1.