Ga. revenues continue to plunge, drop 5.8 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - The red ink at the state Capitol continues.

Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Friday that revenue collections in Georgia dropped 5.8 percent in December from the same month the year before.

For the fiscal year that began in July, tax collections are down 13.7 percent. That's a decline of about $1.1 billion.

Perdue has already ordered state agencies to slash $900 million. Additional cuts are likely on the horizon.

Sales and corporate income taxes both continued to decline in December, sales taxes by 20 percent and corporate taxes by 23 percent. But personal income taxes inched up 6.3 percent, which some see as an encouraging sign.

December's drop is the 13th straight month tax collections in Georgia have dropped.