Virginia’s general fund revenues in April up 42% from last year

Virginia’s general fund revenues were up 42% last month compared with the same month last year — the biggest monthly increase in at least two decades, state officials said.

This is the first revenue report that compares results with last year when the coronavirus pandemic took hold and economic shutdowns began. The jump was likely boosted by a 21% drop in collections in April 2020 compared with April 2019.

In a prepared statement, Gov. Ralph Northam attributed the positive numbers to “strong fiscal management and Virginians doing the right things to put this pandemic behind us.”

On a fiscal year-to-date basis, total revenue collections have increased 12.8 percent through April, above the annual forecast of 2.7 percent growth.