February 12, 2012

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State tax collections lagging; reduction talks begin (AUDIO)

January 6, 2012 By

Some concerns are starting to come from the state budget office that funding for services and institutions will fall millions of dollars short by the end of this fiscal year.  Some early discussions of cuts or withholdings have started.

Halfway through the fiscal year, the state is collecting slightly more taxes than it was a year ago.  But a Christmas bump didn’t happen..  In fact, sales taxes were down four percent from December, 2010–a month that was 13 percent under 2009′s figure.  Corporate tax collections are down ten percent.  

So far, total state tax collections are up only 1.2 percent and losing ground..State budget director Linda Luebbering says tax collections need to grow by about four percent for the rest of the fiscal year for the state to hit budget targets based on a 2.7 percent revenue growth. . .

Tax collections peak in the last quarter of the fiscal year, driven by income tax collections in April. And with unemployment going down, income taxes are expected to go up.  But there are concerns they won’t go up enough.  

Luebbering says she and the governor have been talking regularly but they have not identified specifically will be done if enough taxes don’t come in to pay all the bills.

AUDIO: Luebbering interview   8:15 mp3

 

 

Filed Under: Economy, Featured, News, Taxes Tagged With:

Lawmakers want clear budget message from Nixon (AUDIO)

January 5, 2012 By

Republican leaders in the legislature want Governor Nixon to propose a budget that’s clean and clear–no smoke and mirrors, which they say he has proposed in the past. 

Nixon will tell lawmakers what he thinks is the state of the state and make his budget suggestions on the 17th.  The governor and lawmakers estimate state income for the next fiscal year will be as much as $500 million short of the amount needed for level funding of programs and services. 

The saying in the capitol is “The governor proposes; the legislature disposes.”   Senate floor leader Tom Dempsey of St. Peters wants the governor to make a straightforward budget proposal.

                                        AUDIO: Dempsey comments  :24  mp3

Senate appropriations chairman Kurt Schaefer of Columbia says he hopes Nixon presents what Schaefer calls a “real budget” that doesn’t rely on passage of other legislation to balance.

                                        Schaefer comments   :26  mp3

Much of the hole in the state budget is created by the end of the use of federal stimulus money that the state has stretched through three budgets

 

 

 

Filed Under: Legislature, News, Taxes

Senate leader cautiously optimistic about session (AUDIO)

January 4, 2012 By

The leader of the state senate often uses the word “challenge” in discussing the legislative session starting today.  Senator Rob Mayer of Dexter says he has put the disappointing implosion of the special legislative session of September and October behind him and is cautiously optimistic about the next four and a half months.

He hopes for some early successes in changing the human rights act and the whistleblower law to benefit business.  He’d like to revise the worker’s comp system, the occupational disease issue and the second injury fund.  

Mayer knows it’s going to be hard to balance the budget without a tax increase, but, “We’re not going to have a tax increase,” he says, “It’s going to be challenging to make the necessary reductions that have to be done to truly balance the budget.”

He says it’s also going to be a challenge to revise the school funding formula. But Mayer says the legislature has a responsibility to get that done.

He says tax credit reform is a “bit of a wild card.”  The Senate and the House strongly disagreed about that last year.  Mayer says he has not seen any interest in the aerotropolis, or China hub, issue that was a disaster in the special session. 

 AUDIO: Interview with Rob Mayer 7:18 mp3

 

Filed Under: Business, Education, Legislature, Taxes

Still time to makes changes before filing 2011 tax return (AUDIO)

December 30, 2011 By

IRS spokesman Michael Devine says the number one thing people should start doing is getting their paperwork together. But beyond that, he says making charitable contributions for tax deductions should be done today and tomorrow. Devine says for those who have stocks, cut your losses.

He says the sooner people get a folder together with documents proving donations, contributions, retirement funds and stock returns, the easier it will be to file quickly and accurately.

He says for those with fairly simple returns, who are making less than 58 thousand dollars a year, the IRS has a free filing system on its web site. He says for some people, they can do their federal and state taxes together on that site. He says there’s a less than one percent margin of error in electronic tax returns, so for those who can, it’s a good idea. He says if your return is going to be more complicated than that, to find someone who is recommended by friends and family and knows your tax situation.

He says this year people have a few more days to get their taxes done: the deadline is April 17th instead of 15th because of a weekend followed by a federal holiday.

AUDIO Allison Blood reports. Mp3 [0:58]

Filed Under: News, Taxes

Busiest shopping days are here. And there (AUDIO)

December 20, 2011 By

We’re in the busiest shopping days of the year.  But you won’t see a lot of shoppers in the stores and malls—and that’s bad news for the state. 

Online retailing grows year by year.  Some of the people who run brick and mortar local stores know some people who come in look around, check the prices, then go home and buy from an internet merchant.  Most of the time the buyers save money if in no other way than by avoiding sales tax. And that hurts state government’s income that finances services and institutions.   

Missouri Retailers Association President David Overfelt says more Missouri businesses than ever have used social media to connect with their customers.  But he says it’s the outside internet retailers who need special attention from the legislature.

                              AUDIO: Overfelt :32 mp3

Overfelt hopes people who have bought items from outside-the-state internet companies understand return and restocking policies of those companies.  He says some of those companies do well financially  because of their high return fees.

Filed Under: Business, Human Interest, Legislature, News, Taxes
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