New Hampshire State Revenues End Fiscal Year On An Upswing

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — State revenues ended the 2025 fiscal year on a strong note, but the melody for the entire year remains off-key.

For the final month of fiscal 2025, revenues were $10 million more than estimates, returning $338.4 million, and totaling $3.14 billion for the fiscal year on a cash basis, which is $26.2 million less than anticipated by budget writers.

The good news for current budget writers is the business taxes for the first time in a long time were both above estimates for the month and above last fiscal year’s monthly total.

Business taxes returned $180.2 million for June which is $5.5 million more than estimates and $9.7 million more than last June.

Business taxes totaled $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2025, which is $121.1million less than a year ago, and $156 million less than estimates.

Budget writers are depending on business taxes to provide significantly more revenue than they did in the recently completed fiscal year.

According to the Department of Revenue Administration, the increase in business taxes in June “was due to an increase in corporate estimates.”

Although the weather did not cooperate, the rooms and meals tax revenue for June totaled $29.4 million, which is $2.5 million more than estimates and $2.2 million more than a year ago.

For the 2025 fiscal year, the levy produced $338 million, which is $10.5 million more than the previous fiscal year and $12.9 million more than estimates.

The DRA said June’s figures indicate activity for meals was up 6.5 percent over a year ago, and for hotels was up 3.5 percent.

Another source of good news has been the lottery commission largely driven by greater than anticipated revenues from historic horse racing machines, which are similar to slot machines.

For June the Lottery Commission transferred $37.9 million to the Education Trust Fund, which is $9 million more than estimates and $4.4 million more than a year ago.

For the year to date, the Lottery has produced $210.3 million, which is $7.2 million more than a year ago, and $46.2 million more than estimates.

The “Other” category continues to be a larger source of money than budget writers estimated two years ago when they crafted the budget.

For June the other category produced $36.9 million, which is $4.5 million more than estimates and $5.2 million more than a year ago.

For the year to date, the category produced $184.3 million, which is $90 million more than estimates, but $400,000 less than a year ago.

The real estate transfer tax produced $17.2 million in June, which is $3.1 million less than estimates and $1.5 million less than a year ago.

For the year to date, the levy produced $201 million, which is $16.6 million more than a year ago, but $9 million less than estimates.

The DRA said June real estate revenues indicate transactions were down 5.6 percent and values were down 8 percent from a year ago.

Other levies performing above estimates for the month were the insurance tax, securities revenue and the utility property tax.

Performing below estimates for the month were the tobacco tax, liquor commission transfers, the beer tax, court fines and fees, and the interest and dividends tax.

The Highway Fund, which is largely the gas tax and vehicle registrations, produced $22.6 million for the month, which is $200,000 more than estimates, but $3.3 million less than a year ago.

For the fiscal year, the Highway Fund totaled $268.6 million, which is $8.1 million more than estimates, and $3.1 million more than the previous year.

The Fish and Game Fund, which is mostly fishing and hunting licenses, produced $1.6 million for June, which is $500,000 less than estimates, and $100,000 less than a year ago.

For the 2025 fiscal year the Fish and Game Fund took in $14.6 million, which is $900,000 more than estimates, but $100,000 less than the previous fiscal year.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.