Kansas tax collections $10M short of expectations in August

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas saw its tax collections fall $10 million short of expectations in August, and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is blaming a soft economy even as his critics make his tax-cutting policies a key issue in this year's elections.

The state Department of Revenue's report Thursday marked the fourth consecutive month that Kansas has failed to hit its revenue projections, and tax collections have fallen short 10 of the past 12 months. The state collected $427 million in taxes in August when its official fiscal forecast predicted $437 million; the shortfall is 2.3 percent.

Kansas repeatedly has missed monthly revenue targets and 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 Kansas' latest revenue report showed that individual income tax collections were significantly better than expected in August, with sales and corporate income taxes falling short of the mark. The department said slumps in agriculture and energy production are the reason.

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