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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, January 10, 2001

State tax intake grew in December

The state collected 5.3 percent more in general-fund tax revenue in December, helping push the total for the first half of the fiscal year to $1.5 billion, a 6.7 percent jump from the year-earlier period, the state said today.

The Department of Taxation said $231.5 million was deposited into the general fund last month, compared with about $220 million a year earlier.

A $9.8 million jump in corporate income taxes -- mainly due to a drop in corporate refunds -- provided the largest share of the December increase.

Totals for the general excise and use taxes, the state's largest revenue sources, remained essentially unchanged at $107.7 million, the department said.

Post Office, FedEx to work together

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service and longtime rival FedEx Corp. announced an agreement today to work together, with FedEx carrying mail on its fleet of aircraft and the post office placing FedEx collection boxes in its facilities across the country.

The post office expects to pay FedEx $6.3 billion over seven years to carry its Express Mail and Priority Mail as well as some first-class mail, postal officials said.

At the same time, FedEx is expected to pay between $126 million and $232 million to locate its collection boxes at post offices, depending on the number of boxes eventually installed. The agreement takes effect in August.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based delivery company has more than 600 aircraft in service, which operate a nationwide overnight delivery system.

The post office has its own smaller fleet of planes. The post office said this is a nonexclusive pact that it will make available to any company offering overnight package service nationally.

In other news . . .

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Struggling Xerox Corp. has received $435 million in financing from GE Capital Corp., and is discussing the possibility of GE Capital providing equipment financing for Xerox customers in several European countries.