Kansas tax revenue climbs $440 million in just-completed fiscal year [View all]

Income and sales tax revenue received by the state of Kansas during the fiscal year ending in June topped by $440 million total collections in the previous fiscal year, officials said Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Revenue closed the accounting ledger with $7.5 billion in total tax collections from July 2018 to June 2019, which was $190 million or 2.6 percent higher than anticipated by analysts.

The treasury report served as evidence to a House Democratic leader the state could make long-sought investments in government programs and build the reserve fund, but the report demonstrated for a Senate Republican leader that the governor missed a golden opportunity to reduce taxes.

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, said the state had an opportunity to make overdue investments for repair and upgrade of highways, improvements in care of foster children and to deal with staffing and overcrowding problems in prisons. The state also can move ahead with expansion of eligibility for Medicaid to 130,000 low-income Kansans, he said.

Read more: https://www.cjonline.com/news/20190702/kansas-tax-revenue-climbs-440-million-in-just-completed-fiscal-year
(Topeka Capital-Journal)