Interim Committee Discusses Reliance of Oil Revenues on State Budget

Oil and Gas revenues have allowed the state to make may tremendous investments. But how reliant the state budget has become on oil and gas revenues was the center of discussion at the interim Government Finance Committee meeting. Legislative Council has created a presentation that provided background and facts to committee members. It provides a look at the ups and downs of the budget and reliance on oil and gas revenues. Committee members discussed how during the boom years with revenue growth and increased economic activity there was pressure for new spending and tax relief. The legislature did both by:

• Providing property tax relief
• Reducing individual and corporate income taxes
• Increase spending on:
• Infrastructure improvements for political subdivisions (housing, water, sewer, roads, bridges, airports)
• Road repairs and improvements 
• Schools 
• Public Safety 
• Human Services 
• FMAP (formula that determines the share of Medicaid costs paid by the state) 

The legislature approved these investments when revenues were substantially more than they are now which has created a budget gap. Ongoing expenditures have exceeded ongoing revenues since the oil downturn around 2015. In the 2017 Session, Legacy Fund earnings were available, and lawmakers used $200 million of the earnings to balance the budget. It is estimated the 2019-21 general fund has $700 million more in ongoing expenditures than ongoing revenues, continuing the budget gap.

During the 2019-21 biennium, $400 million of oil tax collections is deposited into the state’s general fund. In addition, there are other transfers from funds derived from oil taxes. So essentially, $1.34 billion of the $5.07 billion budget comes from oil tax collections. The point of discussion here is basically how dependent do legislators want the ongoing budget to be on oil tax revenues. The second big question for them to ponder is to what extend to they want legacy fund earnings to be used to help balance the general fund budget. This will be a point of discussion as the Legacy Fund Earnings committee is studying the best uses for the earnings during the interim. The next LFE committee meeting is February 19th and 20th in Watford City.
Click here to view the Legislative Council Presentation

Revenues Tracking Ahead of Forecast

The Office of Management and Budget provided a report to the committee highlighting how revenues are tracking ahead of forecast. The Legacy fund is averaging deposits of $56 million a month and sits at $6.7 billion. Oil revenue is currently $50 million above forecast and Director Joe Morsette says if revenues track at the current rate the state’s ending fund balance (June 2021) could be close to $400 million.

Internet Sales Tax Collections Up

State Tax Commissioner, Ryan Rauschenberger, gave an update on sales tax revenues. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that remote sellers be required to collect North Dakota sales and use tax on their sales in the state. According to the Tax Department, there are 6,288 active remote sellers collecting the tax. Since June 21, 2018 $37 million in sales tax has been collected, with $8.95 million collected at the local level. Another new law, which requires a marketplace seller to collect taxes, is also bringing in additional sales tax dollars to the state and local. $6.57 million has been collected in the first four months. Rauschenberger noted that this is new revenue for the state because of the new law but it essentially replaces revenue lost at the local level at “physical” retailers in the state. Sales taxes as a whole are on pace to exceed the legislative forecast.