The IFO responds to a request regarding the Neighborhood Assistance Program Tax Credit.
The Commonwealth collected $4.3 billion in General Fund revenues for March, a decrease of $97 million (-2.2%) compared to March 2017. Fiscal year-to-date revenues were $25.3 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion (12.9%) from the prior year.
The IFO responds to a request regarding natural gas royalty payments in Pennsylvania.
Based on draft statutory language provided by the Administration regarding the deductibility of the proposed severance tax from royalty payments, footnote 7 was added to the original letter. (March 23, 2018)
In response to a legislative request, the IFO estimated the fiscal impact of a school property tax rebate for all homesteads. The rebate would be equal to the statewide average school property tax paid by homesteads. The response includes both baseline estimates for currently eligible homesteads and estimates for a behavioral effect based on the filing of additional homestead applications in response to the availability of rebates.
The Independent Fiscal Office responded to a question raised at the office's recent budget hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. A committee member asked how Pennsylvania compares to other states regarding the share of owner-occupied households in which the homeowner is age 60 or over. The response includes multi-jurisdiction comparisons for householders who are age 60 or over, age 65 or over and age 75 or over.
Deputy Director Mark Ryan made a presentation to the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and provided updates on topics addressed in recent IFO analyses. The topics included 1) school property tax forecasts and analysis, 2) Pennsylvania demographic trends, 3) the most recent IFO revenue estimates for FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19 and 4) the impact of pension changes resulting from Act 5 of 2017.
Section 604-B(a)(8) of Act 100 of 2016 (Act of July 20, 2016, P.L. 849, No. 100) requires the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) to:
Provide a cost analysis for the current fiscal year and remaining subsequent fiscal years of the impact of each proposed collective bargaining agreement under the jurisdiction of the Governor prior to execution, including the costs to cover public employee wages, benefits, pensions and working conditions that have been reduced in writing under section 701 of the act of July 23, 1970 (P.L. 563, No. 195), known as the Public Employe Relations Act.
This report for the fourth quarter of 2017 and the calendar year uses data collected by the PA Department of Environmental Protection to develop statewide and county-level tabulations of production volume and well counts.
The Commonwealth collected $3.6 billion in General Fund revenues for February, an increase of $1.7 billion (91.0%) compared to February 2017. Fiscal year-to-date revenues were $20.9 billion, an increase of $3.0 billion (16.6%) from the prior year.
Director Matthew Knittel provided a fiscal update for the state at a conference hosted by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.