Recent figures released by the Kansas Legislative Research Department showed that Kansas will have a projected ending balance of $905 million for fiscal year 2019, the highest since fiscal year 2007, when the state’s ending balance was $933 million.
“I am pleased to know that Kansas is in a much better state of financial health,” Gov. Jeff Colyer said last week. “Our credit rating has improved, and my hope is that these new numbers will pave the way for further upgrades to our state’s credit outlook. This also puts us in a better position to give back to Kansans by lowering taxes, funding education, and making other critical investments in our state.”
Earlier, the state’s revenue department released the figures for October tax collections, which were up $10.71 million, or 2.14 percent over last year, and exceeded expectations by almost $7 million.
According to KDOR, fiscal year tax collections exceeded the previous year’s totals by $183.49 million. Fiscal year 2019 tax collections totaled $2.2 billion, exceeding estimates by $105.60 million.
Individual income tax collections in October were $242.29 million, which is $12.88 million or 5.61 percent above the same time last year. October sales tax collections were short of last October’s collections by $3.88 million in the state.