ATLANTA — A new report from Gov. Brian Kemp's Office shows that the state of Georgia saw a drop in tax revenue for the third consecutive month, but that doesn't paint the full picture.
Despite a 7.6% decline in the amount of money Georgia collected in taxes this May compared to last year, the state actually saw a steady rise in its sales and use tax year-over-year -- a tax that essentially boils down to how much consumers are spending.
11Alive financial expert Andrew Poulos called the overall decline in tax revenue "lackluster," but said it is promising that the sales and use tax, which ties together greatly with retail consumption, is up 2.2% from last year.
"I think Gov. Kemp is probably looking at the same thing," Poulos explained. "'Are consumers spending?' And as long as consumers are spending and money is coming in without a significant decline overall to the net tax revenues in comparison to last year, I think his budget strategy is probably going to continue to be what it was for the first half of the year."
Poulos said it shouldn't be too concerning that the overall numbers are down from this time last year due to the fact that people are opening up their wallets when they go out.
"People are still spending, they're going out to eat, they're still spending the same amount of money, give or take, at the grocery store," he said. "Motor fuel hasn't declined that. I don't expect it to decline now that we're in the summer months. Schools are out, people taking vacations and probably going to be driving the same amount more than the first quarter of the year."
For those wondering about another potential refund check from Kemp's office, Poulos said to not get your hopes up, explaining that he doesn't foresee any more money coming to Georgian's pockets in 2023.
For the 2023 fiscal year as a whole, Georgia has accrued about $30.29 billion in taxes.