State revenue woes continue in October

JEFFERSON CITY — A sharp drop in sales tax collections in October contributed to another bad month financially for Missouri.

Figures released Wednesday show Missouri's revenues fell 14 percent last month compared with October 2008. Sales tax collections were down more than 24 percent, individual income taxes fell nearly 9 percent and corporate taxes declined by 26 percent.

Last week, Gov. Jay Nixon announced more than $200 million in additional spending cuts that he said were necessary to balance the budget because of declining revenues.

Missouri's budget year began in July. Through its first four months, net general revenues were down 10.8 percent compared with the previous year.