Kentucky has huge declines in revenue from key tax sources despite a rebounding national economy. State Budget Director Jane Driskell released a monthly revenue report for April today showing corporate income tax revenue is down by nearly 90 percent.
Property tax collections fell 53.5 percent for the month. Cigarette tax revenue is down 22.2 percent. And collections from the all-important sales tax were off 7.3 percent. The two bright spots in the monthly report are a 5.5 percent increase in income tax revenue and an 18.6 percent rise in coal severance tax collections.
Driskell says the drop in sales tax revenue was especially conspicuous considering improvements in the national economy and signs of growing consumer confidence.