Topeka ? April’s Kansas revenue collections missed estimates by $65.3 million, officials said Friday, further challenging the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson who must balance the state budget.

Individual income taxes were off by about $74.7 million, a reflection of continued weakness in the Kansas job market. The state unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in March, the most recent figure available.

The Department of Revenue said the state took in $575.8 million in April, compared with a forecast of $641.1 million. The new target number was set by a group of economists and researchers on April 16, the day after 2009 taxes were due.

Parkinson said in a statement that the figures were “disappointing, but not surprising.”

“We can still manage to get through the current fiscal year without additional cuts,” Parkinson said.

The news came the same day the Senate Ways and Means Committee endorsed a $434 million tax package, of which $417 million is earmarked to cover a projected revenue shortfall in the 2011 budget. The amount included closing a $93 million shortfall in the current budget, not counting the April revenue report.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said the report underscored the soft Kansas economy, but noted that individual income tax collections were about the same as April 2009. That suggests to him that the economy may be stabilizing.

“There is a silver lining in everything. You just have to look for it,” said Hensley, a Topeka Democrat.

Legislative staff project a $93 million gap in the 2010 budget, growing to $325 million in 2011.