State tax receipts continue to show growth

Reports are in for the first quarter of Missouri government's fiscal year 2002, which began July 1 of this year. Receipts to state government so far tell an interesting tale.

Missouri's tax revenue for the first quarter remained surprisingly steady, recording some increases even as officials in Jefferson City were bracing for an expected downturn.

Jack Stapleton's reporting in this newspaper informs us that the general-revenue fund, which finances most state programs, currently stands 3.7 percent ahead of last year's first-quarter collections.

This has proven true even though some categories within the general fund are below last year's.

The problem, for state budgeteers: The FY 2002 budget was predicated on an estimate of 5.4 percent revenue growth. If this trend continues, general revenue will fall $120 million short of the budget estimate.

Corporate income-tax receipts last month slipped 11.2 percent below September of last year, and for the quarter, they are 13.7 percent lower than a year ago.

Missouri's largest source of tax revenue -- individual income tax collections -- dipped a bare 0.7 percent in September, but this category is still ahead 1.7 percent for the first quarter.

Missouri's second largest revenue source -- sales and use taxes -- showed a 2.3 percent increase over last September. This is noteworthy, given that two-thirds of sales activity occurred after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which, we have been told, produced a dramatic fall-off in retail sales.

With the country at war, it will be necessary to closely follow these numbers, which are available to state policy makers on a daily basis, as the legislature begins the enormous job of writing the state budget when it re-convenes in January.