State general revenue total drops again in February

From today’s SBJ (emphasis is mine):

The state's general revenue situation continued to deteriorate in February, according to numbers released Tuesday.

Net general revenue collections for February totaled $335.6 million, a drop of 14.6 percent from February 2009. For the fiscal year, which started July 1, revenue collections are down 12.7 percent to $4.22 billion.

The continued decline has led to plans to revise the state's consensus revenue estimate for next fiscal year, according to a separate statement released Monday by Gov. Jay Nixon's office.

"After reviewing the preliminary February revenue figures, it is clear that even as Missouri's economy begins to rebound, state revenues will continue to lag for a prolonged period of time," Nixon said in the statement. "As a result, we will need to downsize the scope of state government."

Leaders in the General Assembly plan to meet this week to discuss next year's estimate.

For February, individual income tax collections were down 8.7 percent, while sales and use tax collections decreased 5 percent. corporate income and franchise tax collections were down 7.1 percent, and other collections dropped 15.2 percent for the month. 

The February totals come on the heels of a plan to cut $74 million in spending from this year's budget following a 22.4 percent decline in January collections.