Hard to put a positive spin on tax revenue drop

The Kansas Department of Revenue tried to put a positive spin on the drop in tax collections in September, issuing a press release Tuesday headlined, “September corporate income tax receipts beat estimates.” The release didn’t report that individual income tax receipts were $42.4 million less than expected. And the most important news wasn’t mentioned until the last sentence of the release: So far, state tax receipts for this fiscal year are $23.4 million less than estimates. That drop nearly wipes out the state’s ending balance projected for this fiscal year – meaning that more missed revenue projections or increased expenses (such as K-12 enrollment growth) could force the state to make midyear budget cuts. – Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Hard to put a positive spin on tax revenue drop."