This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 2, 2011 - Fueled by higher consumer spending in August, Missouri's latest revenue numbers offered overall good news. The state overall tax collections increased almost 7 percent for the month, compared to a year ago.
Collections for the first two months of this fiscal year are up 4.1 percent, compared to the same time last year.
But state Budget Director Linda Luebbering saw one warning sign: a drop in individual income tax payments, which indicates a job drop.
"August was not a good month for the individual income tax," Luebbering said in a telephone interview.
"In a typical month, I would not be concerned,'' she explained. "But these have not been typical times."
The state's sales tax collections for August are up 9.6 percent, compared to a year ago. The increase is despite sales taxes that were not collected during Missouri's three-day sales tax holiday in mid-August to promote back-to-school spending.
Luebbering said the sizable increase showed that people made back-to-school purchases throughout the month, a sign that many were feeling more confident about their individual economic situation.
So far this fiscal year, the state of Missouri's net general revenue collections are up about $50 million, compared to the same period a year ago. Most of that came in August.
Here's the state's breakdown for the month of August:
GROSS COLLECTIONS BY TAX TYPE
Individual income tax collections
Increased 3.0 percent for the year, from $751.3 million last year to $773.8 million this year.
Decreased 1.6 percent for the month.
Sales and use tax collections
Increased 5.2 percent for the year, from $305.2 million last year to $321.0 million this year.
Increased 9.6 percent for the month.
Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections
Decreased 21.6 percent for the year, from $36.8 million last year to $28.8 million this year.
Increased 28.5 percent for the month.
All other collections
Decreased 11.3 percent for the year, from $82.1 million last year to $72.9 million this year.
Increased 6.0 percent for the month.
Refunds
Decreased 17.1 percent for the year, from $132.0 million last year to $109.5 million this year.
Decreased 36.7 percent for the month.
