The Illinois revenue report for September 2019 was compiled by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), the General Assembly’s nonpartisan budget-monitoring office. Income tax receipts continued their healthy trend, with personal income tax payments reaching $2.02 billion in the thirty-day month. This was an increase of $195 million, or 10.7%, from the $1.825 billion brought in through this pathway in September 2019. Overall tax revenue was up $257 million on a year-to-year basis, and total revenues were up $757 million. The substantial increase was paced by increased federal reimbursements, including Medicaid matching funds.
Non-income-tax lines of recurring revenue, by contrast, were flat in September 2019. Sales revenues were down $1 million (essentially unchanged on a year-to-year basis), and other taxes on goods and services such as cigarettes, alcohol, insurance policies, and rental cars also showed flat trendlines. Overall economic trends showed a healthy, mature economy marked by high consumer debt levels, with Illinois residents having borrowed an average of $47,380 from lenders. Expensive housing costs and heavy mortgage payments could cause Illinois consumer spending to shrink and sales tax revenues to drop in the next economic pause or downturn.