Kansas revenue falls short of estimates by $15 million in October

Kansas missed revenue estimates by about $15 million in October.

The state beat expectations on individual income tax revenue for the month, but fell significantly short on sales and other consumption taxes.

“Sales and use tax receipts have continued to follow the sluggish national trend and fell short of expectations, negating gains in individual income tax receipts,” said Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan in a news release.

October numbers: Retail sales tax receipts were below estimates by 7 percent, or $14.8 million. Revenue from the compensating use tax, paid on items purchased out of state, missed the estimate by 16.4 percent, or $6.1 million. The state missed estimates on oil and gas severance tax by about 49 percent, or more than $3.6 million.

Revenue from individual income taxes was up 8.2 percent, or about $13 million.

Kansas brought in $492 million when both tax and non-tax sources are counted, $14.9 million less than expected.

For the fiscal year: The state has taken in about $1.84 billion in tax and non-tax revenue between July through October, $57 million off estimates.

What’s next: Lawmakers of both parties have said the state could face another projected budget deficit when the state’s economists revise revenue estimates on Friday. In June, lawmakers raised sales taxes to plug a budget hole that economist blamed largely on 2012 income tax cuts.

The governor’s budget director, Shawn Sullivan, would not rule out cuts to K-12 education as an option to address any further deficit when he spoke to the Associated Press last week.

What does it mean? Lawmakers have differing views:

▪ “Kansas still has a spending problem,” said Rep. Pete DeGraaf, R-Mulvane. He said the state would have been better off had it not “been so optimistic in our guesses and had been cutting instead of spending.”

▪ “We keep trying to fix what was not working. We may eventually just need to go back to reevaluating how we got here,” said Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, who is among those advocating that lawmakers should revist the 2012 income tax cuts.

▪ House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, D-Kansas City, said the lower-than-expected sales tax receipts were proof of “how much Kansas families are struggling” under the tax plan. A plan that “is overly dependent upon a sales tax, is neither responsible, equitable, nor sustainable,” he said.

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Kansas revenue falls short of estimates by $15 million in October."