This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 4, 2011 - Missouri's state government collected 9.4 percent more in income in December than it had in December 2009 -- the biggest one-month increase that the state has seen since the economic downturn slammed Missouri in the pocketbook two years ago.
In another strong sign that the state's economic picture is improving, state Budget Director Linda Luebbering announced today that the state's tally so far for the current fiscal year (2011) has increased 4.6 percent compared to fiscal year 2010.
"This is definitely further evidence that we won't likely have to make more withholdings for the rest of this (fiscal) year," Luebbering said in a telephone interview this afternoon. The fiscal year runs through June 30.
The previous two fiscal years have seen Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, forced to make more than $1 billion in additional budget cuts -- officially called "withholdings" -- because of sharp declines in state income.
The state's general income collections so far for FY2011 total $3.48 billion, up from $3.32 billion for the last fiscal year.
The rosier numbers indicate that state officials and the Legislature may only need to trim $500 million in FY2012, which will see a dramatic cut in federal stimulus aid -- used to help balance state budgets the last three years.
The best news from the December 2010 report, she added, was that "we continue to see solid improvement in individual income-tax collections'' -- a sign that more Missourians are back at work.
The amount collected in December totalled $672.9 million, compared to $615.2 million in December 2009.
Here's the state's revenue breakdown:
GROSS COLLECTIONS BY TAX TYPE
Individual income tax collections
Increased 3.3 percent for the year, from $2.36 billion last year to $2.44 billion this year.
Increased 8.0 percent for the month.
Sales and use tax collections
Increased 0.2 percent for the year from $896.3 million last year to $898.3 million this year.
Decreased 13.0 percent for the month.
Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections
Increased 11.1 percent for the year, from $220.1 million last year to $244.6 million this year.
Increased 6.6 percent for the month.
All other collections
Increased 15.4 percent for the year, from $212.8 million last year to $245.5 million this year.
Decreased 0.8 percent for the month.
Refunds
Decreased 4.3 percent for the year, from $366.6 million last year to $351.0 million this year.
Decreased 53.1 percent for the month.
Jo Mannies Beacon political reporter