Mo. taps reserve fund for second straight month

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri has tapped a state reserve fund for cash flow purposes for the second consecutive month.

The Office of Administration said Wednesday the state has borrowed $100 million from the Budget Reserve Fund, the same amount borrowed the previous month. The funds must be repaid by May 15.

Also Wednesday, officials said Missouri's revenue collections through the first two months of the new fiscal year totaled $1.16 billion, up 6.6 percent from the same period last year. August collections totaled $652.6 million.

Officials said the revenue was boosted by Missouri's share of a national mortgage settlement.

The state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 assumes revenue growth of 3.9 percent.

Excluding the mortgage settlement, revenue rose 3 percent so far this fiscal year.