JACKSON - Legislative leaders are not rejoicing over what appears to be some improvement in state tax collections.
Collections for February trailed projections by only $8.34 million. Lawmakers had expected an $18 million difference between projections and actual tax collections.
For the year, collections are running $132 million less than what the Legislature expected when it passed the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2000.
The Legislature is finalizing details of the $3.6 billion budget for fiscal 2002, which starts July 1.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has cut budgets twice in the current fiscal year because growth has been slower than expected. He also has asked lawmakers to rethink the 3.7 percent rate of growth that's the basis for the 2002 budget. The economy has cooled in recent months and he thinks the estimate might be too high.
If growth projections are too optimistic now, budgets will have to be cut next year.
Musgrove is not alone in his concern about growth estimates.
Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, said now is the time to prioritize spending.
"I don't want to repeat next year what we had to do this year," Ross said Friday. "I honestly believe that the slowdown in revenue was not anticipated this year and as a result everybody is trying to do the best they can to find money in all sort of places to avoid as many cuts as possible. We will not have that excuse next year."
Ross said lawmakers have passed spending bills in the past assuming unrealistic rates of growth. He said the only way the numbers would work was to assume a higher rate of growth than what materialized.
Sen. Gray Tollison, D-Oxford, said a more realistic rate of growth for the budget for fiscal 2002 would be about 2.7 percent, about 1 percent lower than the base now being used.
Ross said: "It is illogical and irresponsible in my mind to repeat that same mistake again to assume a 3.7 percent rate of growth when we're only growing at 2 percent or 2.5 percent."
The chairmen of the Senate and House appropriations committees and other leaders have said they are not ready to make changes in the projected growth rate.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, said the $8.34 million shortfall figure for February looks good only for the moment.
"While the collections look better as far as that we are not losing it as much as we were losing it, we're still cash strapped," he said. "It just good we aren't losing it as fast."
Gordon said individual and corporate income tax collections are down as are gaming taxes.
He said legislative leaders have now been told that debt payments on bonds issued for the Nissan plant project is going to require more than $15 million when they expecting only $8 million to $9 million.
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