STATE COULD RECEIVE MORE THAN $1 BILLION IN ADDITIONAL TAX DOLLARS NEXT YEAR

Santa Fe (KSMX)- State Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith says if the price of oil doesn’t drastically change, the state could receive more than $1 billion in additional tax dollars next year. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the oil boom in southeastern New Mexico is still going strong and money from oil and gas revenues continues to gush into state government’s coffers. Smith told an interim legislative subcommittee on transportation that a windfall of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion will occur unless the international scene changes and the revenues fall.

Crude oil prices dipped earlier this week to less than $50 a barrel, partly credited to fears of a trade war with China. But oil prices rallied late in the week to more than $52 a barrel.