JACKSON — The Mississippi Department of Revenue is requesting a 66 percent budget increase for the coming year, as its top official told lawmakers on Thursday that the investment would lead to more efficient tax collections, including pursuit of overdue payments.
Revenue Commissioner Ed Morgan told lawmakers during a budget hearing that the department is replacing an outdated computer system with a new one that’s a “game changer,” but he needs to hire more people to answer phone calls and to pursue overdue taxes.
“Today, we’ve got the technology we need,” Morgan said. “Now, we need the people to run it.”
Employees are working to collect about $700 million of the $1 billion in delinquent state taxes, department spokeswoman Kathy Waterbury said. Generally, the more recent overdue accounts are easier to collect than the older ones, she said.
The Department of Revenue has a $59 million budget this year, and it’s requesting $97.7 million for fiscal year 2015, which begins July 1.
“We certainly want to give them every tool they need to collect all the revenue that is due to the state of Mississippi,” House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said after the hearing. “I think it is something we’re going to have to look at.”
The 14-member Joint Legislative Budget Committee met Monday through Thursday to hear requests for money from 30 state agencies; other agencies submitted written requests but didn’t make oral presentations. State revenues have increased 5 percent for each of the past two years.
A few agencies are requesting budget decreases. Many agencies are requesting less than a 5 percent increase, while some are seeking 20 to 25 percent more. The Department of Public Safety requested a 45 percent increase. The Department of Revenue requested the largest percentage increase, but not the largest increase in dollars.
Lawmakers frequently give agencies some, but not all, of the money sought. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican who chairs the Budget Committee, said lawmakers will seriously consider the Department of Revenue request.
“I’ve got to commend them on bringing quantitative data before the committee which attempted to justify their request,” Reeves said. “They have done a good job out there over the last couple of years of actually measuring what they’re doing, and the results have not always been positive, but they’re at least measuring it.”
The budget committee will release its spending recommendations in December for what’s expected to be a more than $5.8 billion state budget. Gov. Phil Bryant will release his own recommended budget.
The three-month legislative session starts in early January, and all 122 members of the House and 52 members of the Senate are scheduled to vote on a final budget by April.
