Pennsylvania's Revenue Office Expresses Concern Over Drop In Personal Income Tax

By Tony Romeo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It's budget season in Harrisburg, and there's bad news in the form of revenue collections for the month of February.

As lawmakers review Governor Corbett's proposed budget, and grapple with issues such as the rising cost of state employee and teacher pensions, the Revenue Department reports that collections were almost $48 million or 2.8 percent, below projections in February.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell says the main culprit was personal income tax collections.

"Particularly, [the] personal income tax came in about 5-percent under estimate. So, at this point, considering March and April are the biggest collection months of the year, we're certainly monitoring the situation."

But Brassell says she cannot say what February's numbers might portend for income tax collections in the next two months. For the fiscal year-to-date, meanwhile, overall revenue collections remain slightly above projections $105 million, or .7 percent.