Kansas tax collections $3.1M more than estimated

? State officials say Kansas’ tax collections were $3.1 million more than estimated in November after recent shortfalls.

The Kansas Department of Revenue said Wednesday that tax collections totaled more than $409 million this month, while about $406 million was estimated, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

Corporate income tax receipts came in $1 million above estimates, while individual income tax receipts were $3.8 million above estimates. But sales tax receipts fell short of estimates in November, coming in about $1 million below expectations.

“This is good news, particularly coupled with the positive unemployment numbers that came out earlier this month,” Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said in a statement.

The positive November revenue report came after Kansas fell $23 million short of estimates in October.

The November revenue numbers come nowhere close to the kind of revenue growth the state needs, said Annie McKay, director of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth. She said there was “nothing remarkable” about beating estimates by only $3.1 million.

“While it’s great that we’ve finally beaten our lowered expectations, we still, with our unprecedented tax cuts, are not able to fill what is a pretty substantial fiscal hole, facing us this year and next fiscal year,” McKay said.

The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Research Department estimates the state’s shortfall for this fiscal year, which ends in June, will be $279 million, and it will grow by an additional $436 million in the following year.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said he is considering all options to fill the projected budget deficit. Brownback promoted and signed a bill eliminating income taxes for some business owners, reduced rates across the board and set up additional tax cuts in the future.

The tax cuts have been widely blamed on the governor’s tax policies, including by the research department.