State Board of Equalization approves revenue increase

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A state board says Oklahoma lawmakers will have at least $370-million more to appropriate next year than they did this year.<br/><br/>The state Board of Equalization set preliminary

Monday, December 27th 2004, 2:43 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A state board says Oklahoma lawmakers will have at least $370-million more to appropriate next year than they did this year.

The state Board of Equalization set preliminary revenue projections for fiscal year 2006 Monday. The projections are 6.8% more than was authorized for the current fiscal year.

Funds available for expenditure next year total $5.8-billion. Major revenue growth areas include increased natural gas gross production taxes, individual income tax collections and corporate income taxes.

Officials say the increased revenue should be enough to close a revenue gap created by promised teacher and state employee pay hikes.

The board plans to make its final revenue certification in February.