DALLAS – With four months remaining in the fiscal year, revenues for Kansas are running $79.6 million short of projections, even after the estimates were lowered in November, state officials said.
The shortfall of $53 million, or 15%, in February prompted a statement from Gov. Sam Brownback shifting the blame to a weak national economy rather than the tax cuts he promoted.
"This is an economic problem, not a tax policy problem," Brownback said. "Our tax policy has been instrumental in creating more than 80,000 jobs since we took office and has resulted in a record number of Kansans working."
Brownback said he would order cuts of 3% or $17 million for universities in the current fiscal year.
Since the beginning of the 2016 fiscal year on July 1, 2015, revenues have met expectations only in November. The February shortfall was one of the largest so far.
Brownback said he would call on the legislature to balance the budget without raising taxes. In 2015, the legislature raised sales and tobacco taxes in the largest tax hike in the state's history. Brownback has said he wants to continue phasing out income taxes.
"My focus is on managing spending, not on raising taxes," Brownback said. "Our goal is not to fund the growth of state government; it is to help the Kansas economy grow."
The latest figures come two weeks after the Legislature approved a budget that closes a $200 million gap in the 2017 fiscal year that begins July 1.
House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs challenged Brownback's view that the state's economy is strong because of the Republican tax cuts.
"The state's budget is still not balanced, our debt burden has ballooned, and month after month we experience the equivalent of a fiscal free-fall," Burroughs said in a response to Brownback's state-of-the-state address.
In November, the revenue estimate for the current fiscal year was decreased by $159.1 million, or 2.5%, below the previous estimate. The revised estimate of $6.166 billion represents 4% growth above final FY 2015 receipts.
The revised estimate for FY 2017 is $6.286 billion, which is $194.5 million, or 3% below the previous estimate. The amount of total taxes is estimated to increase by 2.8% in FY 2017, following a 5.7% increase in FY 2016.
