By Gene Meyer
March 4, 2010

(KansasReporter) TOPEKA, Kan. - February's $71 million tax collection shortfall dropped Kansas revenues for the month deeper into budget crisis territory, legislative researchers reported Thursday.

The Kansas Legislative Resarch Department reported, in a memo posted early Thursday evening on its Web site, that total Kansas revenues through the end of February fell $89 million, or 5.6 percent short of the November projections on which budget balancing efforts by both Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson and the Kansas Legislature are based. The total revenues figure includes interest, fee income and other revenue Kansas receives in addition to tax money.

Total revenues in the state general fund since the current fiscal year began now total $3.18 billion, which is 2.7 percent below projections for the eight month period and 9.2 percent under comparable year-earlier totals.

Gov. Parkinson is expected to talk at a news conference Friday about what the increasing revenue decline means for efforts to balance budgets for both the current fiscal year, last estimated to be potentially $39 million out of balance, and for 2011, which looked to be running more than $400 million in the red.

Meantime, state officials earlier this week announced that February school aid payments, which were to have been mailed Monday, would be delayed about a week to avert cash flow problems. Kansas Secretary of Revenue Joan Wagnon told a Winfield business group that she expected some Kansas income tax refund payments would be delayed as well.