Tuesday, June 4, 2002
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April’s tax revenues fall, offering
states no respite from budget wot
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(AP) — States’ income tax
revenue fell by more than a tilth
in April compared with a year
before, a bad sign for governors
and lawmakers who already
struggled to balance this year s
budgets, a new report says.
The weak performance
increases the likelihood that
more states will need to consider
mid-year spending cuts for the
second year running, budget offi
cials told the National
Conference of State Legislatures,
which conducted the survey with
several other groups.
The report, released Tuesday,
discovered widespread weak
ness in states’ revenue from
individual income tax filings,
the largest single source of
money for state governments.
The findings include:
—Total individual income
tax collections in April alone fell
by 21.4 percent, or $8.5 billion,
from April 2001. From January
through April, collections fell by
14 percent, or $14.5 billion,
compared with the year before.
—At least 40 states reported
that personal income tax collec
tions were below projections, 12
of them more than 10 percent
below. Only two states, Georgia
and West Virginia, reported they
were on target or above.
—Income tax refunds
increased by nearly 14 percent
so far this year, with states pay
ing out $2.5 billion more in
refunds this year than last.
Officials figured layoffs and
reduced working hours spurred
the rise in refunds.
“April sort of clinches it," said
Arturo Perez, a senior analyst
with the National Conference of
State Legislatures. “The numbers
don't reflect anything that would
cheer a state official up."
Other sources of revenue —
sales taxes and corporate taxes
— have also been weak this
year. A preliminary report found
corporate income taxes fell by
18 percent in the first quarter.
Though the recession offi
cially ended last year, econo
mists say states’ financial woes
will continue as unemployment
remains higher than in recent
years.
Most states have returned to
their budgets and cut spending
over the past year, and budget
writers have adjusted their pro
jections downward.
But the new report found that,
for the overwhelming majority,
even the conservative estimates
weren't gloomy enough.
State are “looking now at a
potentially out-of-balance budg
et in the upcoming year,” Perez
said. “There’s a lot of misery
shared among the states.
This is not isolated to one or
two states, or just one region of
the country.”
States have faced budget
shortfalls in the billions of dol
lars over the fiscal year that ends
for all but four states this month.
Nearly all have rejected general
tax increases, choosing instead a
Income tax slumivoiuir
State individual income tax
collections for April were d
more than 20 percent from 2(K
to*
State individual incometi?
collection in billions*
1
April 2001
•Totals for the 41 slates that cofcc
income tax and District of Cotunts
SOURCE: National Conference of
State Legislatures
mix of spending cuts and to
ed tax hikes, such as higher
arette taxes or corporate ts
Kansas, however, recs
raised sales taxes.
State leaders are alsoseei
A 17-
iially as;
iruising
ace fror
morning
ilock of
The (
help from Washington, k Qepartm
that the federal govemmem
take on a larger share of the
of Medicaid, the healthcare: )Q’s gra
gram for the poor, and olii
multibillion dollar inft
through block grants.
The survey was conducie;
the NCSL. the Federationof
Administrators, the Natii
Association of State Be:
Officers, and the Nelsor
Rockefeller Institute
Government.
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SANTIAGO XOCHILTEPEC, Mexico (AP)
— The little cemetery under the piney mountains
was filled to overflowing. Even some of the graves
were cut extra-wide in the muddy red earth so that
brother could be buried beside brother.
With weeping, wailing and anger, Santiago
Xochiltepec buried 26 men on Sunday, most of
them young, all victims of a Friday evening mas
sacre that grew out of a land dis
pute residents say is nearly seven
decades old.
The Oaxaca state attorney gen
eral’s office announced that federal
troops and state police had arrested
16 people from the neighboring
district of Santo Domingo
Teojomulco, most from the village
there known as Las Huertas, popu
lation 390.
Abdias Hernandez, 66, said
there had been clashes since 1935
on the edges of this settlement of
640 people that repeated federal
and state interventions had failed
to solve.
“If we had guns, we’d go and
By Ch
TV
d to the
sported
In 1998, a battle between Teojomulco
another village killed at least 14. A 1986(
involving nearby Amoltepec and Zanizakille:
One of the men convicted of homicide in that,
is now Amoltepec's mayor, three years after::
ing prison.
Most conflicts in the impoverished regiotl
related in some way to land. Competing lol "We
cultures have battled over f|akes to
and forest land since beforeffigler s
Spanish conquest 500 yearsphe inve
Officials say the latest violeafabout an
tier into i
le sexua
Sgt. Rod
public in
The i
heCSPl
o keep
ial. Tht
or sexui
:ect the i
)f victin
eported,
He ct
imher i
ssault h
igation
:onfirm<
:ustody
The ’
Hollege
he poli
incidenl
If the government
does nothing
the dispute will
continue. There
will he more
yy
massacres.
Abdias Hernandez
Massacre Witness
do the same thing to them, but we don’t, which
is why we stand here with our arms crossed,”
Hernandez said, though he admitted to knowing
the local price for an AK-47.
“If the government does nothing, the dispute
will continue. There will be more massacres,” he
added.
Xochiltepec, about 215 miles southeast of
Mexico City, is one of hundreds of settlements
with apparently ageless rival claims to land. The
federal agrarian reform department has reported
600 ongoing community disputes over land in
Oaxaca, Mexico’s most heavily Indian state.
no exception.
“This attack was an acl
vengeance by one comm,
toward another” because ot a|
eral ruling that Xochiltepecol
hundreds of acres also claime|
Teojomulco, the state attc
general’s office said.
Xochiltepec is a Zapoteclnj
settlement. Las Huertas
Mestizo village.
The victims worked atasa»l
in nearby San Pedro el Alto,sia|
there from Monday to Frida)f
Two
Ir
91
returning each weekend with their pay.
Survivors said the men had hitched a ride
dump truck for the arduous, several-hour ride:
home. At a spot known as Agua Fria
Water — downed tree trunks and rocks fo
driver Alberto Antonio Perez to stop and gu^
emerged from the trees.
Perez says they ordered him and his s«
leave — the two were from San Pedro rather
Xochiltepec — and then opened fire witlL 1
matic weapons.
Twenty-six men died and four survived,' Mohai
tered by the bodies of the dead.
WA
Investij
identifi
of Ose
l likely i
11 ten
U.S. c
said Ti
Kh;
Mohai
of the
rorists
Afghai
cial tol
U.S
NEWS IN BRIEF
Philippine military
wants further help
fighting terror
TAB1AWAN, Phillippines
(AP)—The Philippines would like
U.S. military trainers to work
alongside Filipino soldiers to bat
tle terrorists, a top general said
Monday, embracing a sensitive
proposal by the Pentagon to ex
pand its mission.
General Ernesto Carolina,
head of his country's southern
command, was joined by other
Filipinos, including business
leaders, in urging Deputy De
fense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to
recommend an expansion of the
U.S. mission on the southern is
land of Basilan.
The Philippine military would
like to have U.S. trainers work
with smaller units of Filipino sol
diers, said Carolina. "It's very im
portant because then we can do
more," he said.
U.S. trainers currently work
with larger groups of soldiers
at area headquarters and do
not accompany the Filipinos
on patrols and other small-unit
missions.
Wolfowitz, the No. 2 Penta
gon official, said the proposal is
one of several possible changes
being considered by Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Buckingham Palace
rocks with concert
for the queen
LONDON (AP) — Bucking
ham Palace rocked Monday
night with screaming guitars,
cheering fans and pop stars led
by Paul McCartney and Eric Clap
ton in a concert celebrating
Queen Elizabeth ll's 50 years on
the throne.
An estimated 1 million peo
ple thronged the parks and roads
around the palace, including the
thousands who waved the
Union Jack flag in the plaza di
rectly below.
The crowd cheered wildly,
starting with the opening act of
"The Parly at the Palace" — gui
tarist Brian May of the group
Queen, who stood on the pal J
roof with his long hair flying 2
sang "God Save the Que e
They were still hollering w 1 ';
the queen came out to addrf
the crowd at the end of the cc
cert, which closed the third 2
of the four-day jubilee. .1
Puerto Rican singer R |2
Martin went straight into
Cup of Life" with a brief ass
from Mis-Teeq, and then sa
"Livin' La Vida Loca."
More than three hours la
the concert ended with
Cartney singing a medley:
Beatles' classics, such as
You Need Is Love," "Sgt. pe ;
pers Lonely Hearts Club Bar
and "Hey Jude." |
Some of the songs McU
ney sang alone, some with r c
stars from his generation sij
as Clapton, Rod Stewart 1
Cocker, and two at the h 11
with the many other perform
from the gala. I
His performance for the
served monarch also kejj.
tongue-in-cheek with a Bea .
song that includes the line,
majesty's a pretty nice girl, :
she doesn't have much tosa
SOURC