State Tax Collections Already Falling Short Of Projections

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – November was a bleak month for Mississippi tax collections.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2hASoBZ) collections were 8.8 percent below the original estimate for the month. Numbers compiled by the Legislative Budget Office show that’s a shortfall of $35.2 million.

MONEY

A single month does not indicate a trend, but collections have been sluggish for an extended period.

Through November, the first five months of the current state budget year, revenue collections were 2.5 percent below the amount collected during the same period last year. That’s a decrease of $50.9 million.

Gov. Phil Bryant has already ordered one round of spending cuts since the budget year started July 1.