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Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

Kansas tax revenue plunged $27 million below expectations in December

Author:     Jonathan Shorman
Source:     The Topeka Capital-Journal
Publication Date:     January 4, 2016 - 3:52pm
 Link: Kansas tax revenue plunged $27 million below expectations in December
Stephan:   I always have in mind Associate Justice Brandeis' comment about the states being laboratories of competing philosophies and policies. This has come to mean Red value governance and Blue value governance and, in the last decade, it has been fascinating to watch this process, and boy is it clear-cut, and nowhere more obvious than Kansas. Republican governor Sam Brownback and his allies in the legislature have systematically trashed a state that until their ascendancy was conservative but stable and financially sound. All of that has gone by the boards, and this is the latest on the Kansas economy. It is a classic example of voters choosing to destroy their own quality of life.      
Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback Credit: Thad Allton/AP|

Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback
Credit: Thad Allton/AP|

Kansas tax revenue plummeted $27 million below expectations in December, figures released Monday showed, returning the state to its pattern of less-than-expected tax receipts.

The large missed estimate comes after revenue forecasters this fall lowered expectations for the next several months, and a week before lawmakers return to Topeka.

The state broke out of an eight-month-long streak of missed estimates in November. But December’s lower than expected receipts quash hopes the November figures were the start of a new, positive trend.

For the month, individual income tax receipts were nearly $26 million below estimates. December sales tax revenue, which counts sales made in November, was $14 million off estimates.

In total, the state’s tax collections came up 4.37 percent short. Despite falling short, the collections still received a bump from about $8 million more than expected in insurance premiums. Without the boost, total tax collections were $35 million below estimates.

The Kansas Department of Revenue did not offer a cause […]

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