Taxes make up less than half of state revenue. This section describes the major sources of revenue for Oklahoma government, considering not only taxes, but fees, federal funds, and other sources. The graph below compares Oklahoma revenue on a per-person basis to national averages.

Oklahoma's revenue mix is similar to the national average but collections from most sources are below average. An average Oklahoman paid $900 less in taxes, $100 less in user charges, and $600 less in insurance trusts (workers compensation, retirement and unemployment) than the average American. Federal funds per person were about the same for Oklahoma and the national average; much of this can be attributed to Oklahoma's below-average income, which qualifies it for more federal funding than wealthier states.

You can click the links at the bottom of this page for more detail on Oklahoma's tax, federal, and user charge revenues. This section describes highlights of all other non-tax revenue sources.

• Insurance trusts collect approximately $3 billion per year. Over 70 percent of this revenue is from local governments to fund statewide retirement systems for teachers, police officers, and firefighters. (The state's other major retirement system, the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System or OPERS, is not included in these figures because money is transferred between state agencies.) The state-operated trusts for unemployment (Oklahoma Employment Securities Commission) and workers compensation (CompSource) collect approximately $300 million each from taxes and premiums paid by public and private employers.
• Government utilities collect approximately $1.3 billion in charges each year. About one-third of this revenue is collected by state agencies, largely the Grand River Dam Authority. Local governments also collect utility revenues. Water supplies (both city water systems and rural water districts) collect more than one-third of all utility charges in Oklahoma and are followed by collections of publicly-owned electric utilities, gas utilities, and public transit.
• Other revenue, totaling $2.1 billion dollars, consists of interest earnings, sale of property, rental income, fines, state receipts from the tobacco settlement, and hundreds of other minor sources.

The Oklahoma Lottery is one highly visible item that falls in the "Other Revenue" category. Voters approved the lottery in 2004 and it began in 2005. After paying prizes (45 percent) and administrative costs (20 percent), 35 percent of lottery proceeds are left to pay for education purposes. Of this amount, 45 percent is used for K-12 and preschool programs and 45 percent for higher education and other post-secondary education. Five percent each is reserved for school consolidation and the teachers retirement fund. In fiscal year 2007 the Oklahoma Lottery sold $202 million in tickets and had profits of $69 million. According to CQ Press, Oklahoma's lottery profit of $19.27 per person ranked 36th, near the bottom of the 42 states that operated lotteries.

Go to OK Policy's Fact Sheet on Lottery, Gaming and the Tobacco Tax

• User Charges
• Federal Funds

‹‹ Go back to Other TaxesupGo on to User Charges ››