Bobby Harrison, the Tupelo Daily Journal Capitol reporter and dogged state budget tracker, reports that state revenue collections slowed in October, bringing overall collections back to almost exactly what had been projected for the first four months of the year.

That is disappointing — but not unexpected — news after state revenue collections ran ahead of projections for the first three months of FY 2018. Harrison notes that State Economist Darrin Webb warned state leaders last week that the collections for the first few months had been inflated by special circumstances and could not be expected to continue.

Meeting the revenue projections is important for the state budgeting process. In recent years, Gov. Phil Bryant has had to make mid-year budget cuts to state agencies when revenue fell significantly below projections.

Read the full story here.

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.