Miss. Tax Collections Running $91 Million Ahead of Expectations

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — A top budget writer says Mississippi tax collections are running $91 million ahead of expectations, just over halfway into the fiscal year.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Herb Frierson says that’s a small portion of the $6 billion budget, but the uptick shows economic conditions are improving. The Poplarville Republican also says Tuesday that legislators will consider a long list of funding requests the next couple of months.

Some programs, including Medicaid, are seeking more money to get through the year that ends June 30. Others want increases for the year that begins July 1.

Mississippi Medicaid director David Dzielak says that from January to December 2014, enrollment increased by 10 percent in Medicaid and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program. Both programs are funded with state and federal money.