(Photo from Governor's 2024 EBR)
- When lawmakers will return to adopt a new state budget for FY 2026 is still unknown.
Mississippi revenue collections appear to have plateaued.
The Legislative Budget Office’s latest revenue report released this week shows total tax and revenue collections in Mississippi for the month of April were down nearly $2.5 million, or 0.23% below the sine die revenue estimate.
This brings the current fiscal year-to-date revenue collections to $5,990,797 or 0.10% above estimates with two months remaining in the fiscal year.
The FY 2025 Sine Die Revenue Estimate was $7.6 billion.
The April LBO report shows that fiscal year-to-date total revenue collections through April are $78 million, or 1.23% below the prior fiscal year’s collections.
Notably, April General Fund collections were $6,588,197, or 0.62% below the prior year while sales tax collections for the month outpaced the prior year by $11.4 million.
Despite the continued phase down of the state’s income tax, individual income tax collections for the month of April were also above the prior year by $54.5 million. However, April’s corporate income tax collections were below the prior year by $73.3 million.
Lawmakers failed to adopt the necessary spending bills to adopt a new state budget during this year’s regular season, requiring them to return to the Capitol prior to the start of the new fiscal year, which is July 1, in a special session.
Governor Tate Reeves (R) said last week that he had hoped to have a resolution between the two chambers in place by April 30, yet that was not to be as leadership in the House and Senate remain at odds.
Speaker Jason White (R) told Magnolia Tribune that the various House Appropriations Chairmen have had lengthy meetings with Senate Appropriations leadership.
“Most all budgets are finalized. The disagreement now continues to center around the expenditure of Capital Expense Funds, and whether or not those expenditures will include local infrastructure projects throughout the state,” White said.
The Speaker said the House has communicated its position clearly to the Senate that they would like to include local infrastructure projects.
“If we cannot agree on this particular issue, the House is willing and prepared to pass a budget,” White said, adding that further meetings with Senate leadership are expected to “lead to a conclusion of this matter and allow us to pass the budget.”
Governor Reeves has said he expects an agreement between the chambers prior to him calling a special session so as not to have an unnecessarily lengthy session. However, as of Wednesday, there has been no word on when the special session will commence.
Magnolia Tribune Capitol Correspondent Daniel Tyson contributed to this article.
