General revenue collections are up slightly for the year, pointing to a slow but steady uptick in the economy. State Budget Director Linda Luebbering says the state and national economy is getting better, and the numbers show it.

Net general revenue collections for March increased by 9.2 percent compared to March 2010 collections … from about $460 million to just over $500 million. But Luebbering says people are still being cautious. Sales tax revenue is up less than one percent.

She says in addition to a lack of confidence in the national and state economy, increasing gas prices are likely one factor leading to consumers only spending what they need to spend … and not much extra.

She says the fact that general revenue is up nearly 10 percent over last year, a promising sign that the economy is slowly but surely picking up.

Here are the numbers from the March 2011 General Revenue Report:

2011 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections increased 6.5 percent compared to 2010, from $4.68 billion last year to $4.98 billion this year.

Net general revenue collections for March 2011 increased by 9.2 percent compared to those for March 2010, from $461.7 million to $504.3 million.

GROSS COLLECTIONS BY TAX TYPE

Individual income tax collections

· Increased 3.3 percent for the year, from $3.76 billion last year to $3.88 billion this year.

· Increased 6.0 percent for the month.

Sales and use tax collections

· Increased 0.7 percent for the year from $1.34 billion last year to $1.35 billion this year.

· Decreased 5.7 percent for the month.

Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections

· Increased 8.2 percent for the year, from $306.0 million last year to $331.1 million this year.

· Increased 8.4 percent for the month.

All other collections

· Increased 16.5 percent for the year, from $328.5 million last year to $382.5 million this year.

· Increased 11.6 percent for the month.

Refunds

· Decreased 8.6 percent for the year, from $1.05 billion last year to $956.7 million this year.

· Decreased 4.7 percent for the month.