In April, the state’s General Fund grew by $7.305 billion, the second-largest monthly haul ever.
Now in third place is April 2025 with $7.159 billion. The only more prosperous period was $8.037 billion in April 2022, a record attributed to federal stimulus programs.
This and other useful data come from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s monthly report (tinyurl.com/COGFAMay26), essential reading for those interested in where Springfield gets its money.
This report is essential for two obvious reasons. As Ben Szalisnki noted in a Capitol News Insider post Monday, “April revenues make up as much as 10% of all revenue for a given fiscal year and can make or break a budget. The April report is the final snapshot of revenue trends for state lawmakers before they’re expected to pass a budget by May 31.”
That confluence also makes the early May report an excellent resource for year-over-year comparisons.
Last year’s report had a dozen references to tariffs. COGFA Revenue Manager Eric Noggle explained, “unknown implications of tariffs create many questions … impact on prices and if these changes could lead to a recession. These complicating factors and their potential impact on tax revenues make the revenue estimate for [fiscal] 2026 very challenging.”
Twelve months and a few major court decisions later, tariffs remain a complicating factor for many businesses, but the 2026 report doesn’t use the word once. Sales tax receipts have been up, though some of the reason could be higher purchase prices due to nationwide inflation. Insurance taxes were up $29 million and interest on state funds and investments increased by $26 million. The corporate franchise tax was down $4 million, and estate tax revenues dropped $2 million.
Last year, the report ended with four pages from Noggle titled “A Closer Look: Income Tax Distributions to the Income Tax Revenue Fund and the Local Government Distributive Fund.” This year, he dedicated three pages to “The Growing Importance of Income Tax Revenues.”
Read in series, this analysis contextualizes the outsized role of personal and corporate income tax in funding state operations. Although sales tax makes the third leg of the revenue stool, this paragraph is stunning:
“On a single receipting day this month following the April 15 income tax deadline, more than $1.5 billion in income tax receipts were collected. This one-day total exceeds the amount generated by each of the state’s other revenue sources for the entire fiscal year [with the exception of the sales tax].”
In fiscal 2004, net income tax receipts were about 30% of total revenues. By the end of fiscal 2026, COGFA projects roughly 60%.
With those trends, don’t be shocked when conversations about modernizing the tax base increase and intensify.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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May 7, 2026 at 10:04AM
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