Revenue is up enough for a tax cut, but state lawmakers will have nearly $300 million dollars less to spend next year. That is the word from State Finance Director Preston Doerflighter.
Doerflinger announced Wednesday the estimate for general revenue fund collections for the upcoming fiscal year is about $60 million more than the estimate made in February 2013, thus triggering the cut.
A seven-member board led by Governor Mary Fallin will meet Thursday to certify the final figures.
The cut will drop Oklahoma's top personal income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5 percent, beginning in January 2016. Doerflinger says the average tax filer will save about $85 a year, while the cut is expected to cost the state about $147 million annually.
If revenues keep rising, a second cut to 4.85 percent is possible in 2018.