Missouri begins new fiscal year with record amount of money

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri is beginning its new budget year with a record amount of money in the bank.

The state budget office said Wednesday that Missouri started the 2022 fiscal year July 1 with nearly $2.4 billion on hand.

That shattered the old record of nearly $1.5 billion for the fiscal year that started in July 1998.

Budget Director Dan Haug said the surplus was due partly to the coronavirus.

Because the state delayed the individual income tax deadline in 2020, it received tax payments for two fiscal years in 2021.

Haug said sales tax revenues also were up — indicating that people were shopping more during the pandemic.