Kansas misses August revenue estimates by about $10 million

Kansas missed revenue estimates for August by more than $10 million.

The state fell 2.3 percent below estimates for the month overall.

It was the fourth straight month that Kansas has failed to hit its revenue projections. Tax collections have fallen short 10 of the past 12 months.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has pointed to a soft economy even as his critics make his tax-cutting policies a key issue in this year’s elections.

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since GOP legislators heeded Brownback’s call to slash personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 as an economic stimulus. On Thursday, an economist with the Washington-based Tax Foundation told Mississippi lawmakers evaluating planned tax cuts that Kansas is “an example of what not to do in tax reform.”

But individual income tax revenue surpassed estimates by $14.8 million, or 9 percent, for the month.

“Individual income taxes beat estimates for the second month of the fiscal year, which is encouraging, but corporate, sale and use tax receipts continue to lag pulling down the overall totals,” Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan said in a statement.

The state had expected to bring in $10 million in corporate income tax revenue for the month, but took in less than $304,000, a miss of nearly 97 percent.

so much for the continued insistence that tax cuts means more revenue. it would be funny if it weren't so tragic....