Texas’ chief tax collector recently projected that state lawmakers will have about 10% more money available to spend in 2022-23 than expected, citing robust natural gas and oil production tax revenues as a key factor in the outlook.

texas revenues chart

“Severance taxes performed extremely well due to elevated oil and gas prices caused by energy market volatility,” said Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar.

The Texas Comptroller’s office last week reported the state will have $149.07 billion in General Revenue-related (GR-R) funds for general-purpose spending for the 2022-2023 biennial budget. The GR-R projection reflects a $13.75 billion increase from the previous $135.32 billion estimate in November.

Texas Comptroller’s office spokesman Kevin Lyons told NGI that GR-R funds...