This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.
The latest Legislative Budget Office report shows December collections rose $28 million over estimates.
Revenue collections in Mississippi pushed over $100 million above legislative budget estimates halfway through the current fiscal year, according to the December report from the Legislative Budget Office released on Tuesday.
The December 2023 revenue report showed that the revenue collections for the month were $28,359,591 or 4.30% above the sine die revenue estimate, bringing the Fiscal Year-to-date revenue collections through December to $104,290,058 or 2.91% above estimate.
A year-over-year comparison of state revenues of December 2022 and December 2023 reflects a decrease of $20.9 million or 0.56%. This is largely attributable to the reduction in income taxes as passed by lawmakers and signed into law by Governor Reeves during the 2022 session.
Even still, state revenues in Mississippi continue to outpace estimates. The total state budget is for the fiscal year is set at $7,523,800,000.
Lawmakers are being urged to consider further individual income tax relief this session by Governor Reeves who has repeatedly called for the full elimination of the income tax.
However, lawmakers, especially on the Senate side of the Capitol, have advised caution as the current tax cuts are phased in amid an unstable national economy still struggling with negative effects of inflation and higher interest rates.
This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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