Tax Numbers Fall Short Of Goal

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi tax collections for May were $107.2 million below what state officials had expected.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1QEQYQl ) the shortfall leaves revenue $84.5 million below what officials estimated would be collected through May. The fiscal year ends June 30.

While disappointed with the revenue collections, House Appropriations Chair Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, said the state’s fiscal condition is healthy. He says the state has strong cash reserves to make up the shortfall.

The Legislature left about $430 million in reserve accounts during the 2015 session, which ended in early April.

Frierson says tax collections have been up and down all year. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

Through the first 11 months of the fiscal year, collections are 2.1 percent over the amount collected during the same period last year.