State revenue down 11.8 percent; officials say figures skewed

ATLANTA - Governor Barnes ordered state department heads to trim spending by another two percent today after a report showed state tax collections fell 11.8 percent in July. <br> <br> Although Barnes and his chief economic adviser insisted the news isn&#39;t as bad as the report showed, he said he was ordering the cuts as a precaution. <br> <br> The governor said, ``This is not a crisis.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Barnes said the state has avoided crises in the past by making cuts before they were needed. <br> <br> Exempt from the spending cuts are programs for direct classroom instruction, law enforcement and child protective services. <br> <br> Henry Thomassen, the governor&#39;s chief economic adviser, said the July figures are misleading because of a change in the way the state Revenue Department processes collections. He said a three-month average, which reduces the influence of monthly abnormalities, shows the true decline is only about four percent. <br> <br> He said he expects positive numbers by September or October and added that Thursday&#39;s report does not alter the state&#39;s estimate that it will end the budget year next June 30 with about a fourth percent growth rate. <br> <br> The report showed net revenue collections for July were $868.3 million, down $116.1 million, or 11.8 percent, from July 2001.