This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 3, 2011 - Missouri state budget chief Linda Luebbering has announced that the state's income collections for February were up 6.2 percent, compared to a year ago -- further proof that the state's economic fortunes are continuing to improve.
The February numbers are not as dramatic as January's increase of almost 16 percent, but the continued improvement has heartened state officials.
The state is on course to collect more money this year than the 3.6 percent that had been estimated. But budget officials -- and Gov. Jay Nixon -- have warned that it's still too early to break open the champagne. Still, he told the Beacon earlier this week he continues to be cautiously optimistic.
Here's the breakdown:
GROSS COLLECTIONS BY TAX TYPE
Individual income tax collections
- Increased 3.0 percent for the year, from $3.30 billion last year to $3.40 billion this year.
- Increased 2.5 percent for the month.
Sales and use tax collections
- Increased 1.5 percent for the year from $1.18 billion last year to $1.20 billion this year.
- Increased 2.2 percent for the month.
Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections
- Increased 8.1 percent for the year, from $256.0 million last year to $276.9 million this year.
- Increased 16.0 percent for the month.
All other collections
- Increased 17.7 percent for the year, from $261.6 million last year to $307.9 million this year.
- Increased 21.1 percent for the month.
Refunds
- Decreased 9.9 percent for the year, from $781.3 million last year to $704.2 million this year.
- Increased 1.5 percent for the month.
