Policy Matters

Mississippi ranks 46^th among states in the amount of state and local taxes collected per capita, collecting just over $3,000 per capita in FY 2008 according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  The tax data point to low levels of tax collections relative to other states per capita and underscore the challenges that face Mississippi in maintaining the public structures that could ultimately improve the quality of life.  The table below shows a comparison of state and local taxes collected per capita for Mississippi (red), the other 49 states (blue), and the US average (green).

State and Local Taxes Collected Per Capita by State in FY 2008

While this points to a challenge for Mississippi, there are ways to update the tax system to collect more revenue to fund our public structures while also making the system more equitable for working families.  The state’s public structures provide the foundation of our economy, but have been threatened by year after year of budget cuts and underfunding.  To ensure the state continues to recover from the recent recession, those public structures, like our education and infrastructure systems, need adequate funding.