Current:Home > StocksMississippi expects only a small growth in state budget-LoTradeCoin
Mississippi expects only a small growth in state budget
View Date:2024-12-23 11:33:08
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s budget is expected to grow more slowly next year than it has the past few years, reflecting economic trends with a cooling off of state sales tax collections.
Top lawmakers met Thursday and set an estimate that the state will have $7.6 billion available to spend in its general fund during the year that begins July 1. That is less than a 1% increase over the current year’s $7 billion.
The general fund increased about 5% a year for each of the past two years and 8% for a year before that.
Mississippi’s sales tax collections were “essentially flat” for the first four months of the current budget year, state economist Corey Miller told members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. He also said collections from corporate income taxes have decreased, while collections from the individual income tax and insurance premium taxes have increased.
A general fund revenue estimate is an educated guess of how much money the state will collect from sales taxes, income taxes and other sources. Setting the estimate is one of the first steps in writing a budget.
The general fund is the biggest state-funded part of the government budget. Mississippi also receives billions of federal dollars each year for Medicaid, highways and other services, but lawmakers have less flexibility in how the federal money is spent.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is pushing lawmakers to phase out the state income tax. Speaking of expected $600 million state revenue increase for next year, Reeves said officials should “return that back to the taxpayers.”
Republican House Speaker Jason White, who also supports phasing out the income tax, responded: “You can rest assured, there are lots of crosshairs on that $600 million.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has said he wants to reduce the 7% sales tax on groceries. He would not say Thursday how much of a reduction he will propose.
The 14-member Budget Committee is scheduled to meet again in December to release its first recommendations for state spending for the year that begins July 1. The full House and Senate will debate those plans during the three-month session that begins in January, and a budget is supposed to be set by the end of the session.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Denzel Washington Will Star in Black Panther 3 Before Retirement
- Judge voids result of Louisiana sheriff’s election decided by a single vote and orders a new runoff
- New aid pledges for Ukraine fall to lowest levels since the start of the war, report says
- AP Week in Pictures: North America
- Republican Scott Baugh concedes to Democrat Dave Min in critical California House race
- New Deion Sanders documentary series: pins, needles and blunt comments
- Massachusetts attorney general files civil rights lawsuit against white nationalist group
- Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the first tour to gross over $1 billion, Pollstar says
- 'America's flagship' SS United States has departure from Philadelphia to Florida delayed
- Texas Supreme Court pauses ruling that allowed pregnant woman to have an abortion
Ranking
- Amazon's 'Cross' almost gets James Patterson detective right: Review
- Federal judge poised to prohibit separating migrant families at US border for 8 years
- Thursday Night Football highlights: Patriots put dent into Steelers' playoff hopes
- Driver strikes 3 pedestrians at Christmas parade in Bakersfield, California, police say
- Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina
- How Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky Put on a United Front for Their Kids Amid Separation
- Woman tries to set fire to Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home, Atlanta police say
- Migrants from around the world converge on remote Arizona desert, fueling humanitarian crisis at the border
Recommendation
-
Florida Man Arrested for Cold Case Double Murder Almost 50 Years Later
-
Migrants from around the world converge on remote Arizona desert, fueling humanitarian crisis at the border
-
Unhinged yet uplifting, 'Poor Things' is an un-family-friendly 'Barbie'
-
FDA approves gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease
-
Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
-
Lawmakers seek action against Elf Bar and other fruity e-cigarettes imported from China
-
Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein dies unexpectedly at 51
-
Migrants from around the world converge on remote Arizona desert, fueling humanitarian crisis at the border