It Figures

$454.5 Million

Collections to Oklahoma’s general revenue fund totaled $454.5 million in December 2010. That’s $52 million, or 13 percent, more than December 2009, and nearly $19 million, or 4 percent, above the amount state officials had estimated. State Treasurer Ken Miller says the December revenue report shows the economy is gaining strength, although he cautioned it’s in the early stages of recovery. Miller said taxes on net income, sales, motor vehicles and the production of oil and natural gas all showed improvement. Overall, revenue collections for the first six months of the fiscal year totaled $2.3 billion.

$133 Million

Property insurance policyholders in Louisiana left unclaimed almost $133 million in rebates that had been available before the end of 2010. Since 2006, property insurance holders have paid special assessments to pay off bonds to keep Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. solvent following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The money — part of those assessments — has now gone into the state treasury. About 69 percent of the available rebates went unclaimed from 2006. Rebates from 2007 through 2010 can still be claimed.

$404 Million

Workplace discrimination complaints against private sector firms hit an all time high in 2010, with the U.S. Equal Employment opportunity Commission (EEOC) reporting a total of 99,922 fiscal year 2010 filings. That was a 7 percent increase and the highest number in the commission’s history. The EEOC filed 250 lawsuits, resolved 285 lawsuits, and resolved 104,999 private sector charges during the past fiscal year. Through its combined enforcement, mediation and litigation programs, the EEOC said it secured more than $404 million in monetary awards from employers — the highest level of monetary relief ever obtained by the commission through the administrative process.