Kansas collected nearly $45 million less in taxes in September than expected, providing a major blow to state finances and scrambling the budget.

State government now faces a shortfall greater than $60 million, just three months — or one quarter — into the fiscal year. Barring a dramatic turnaround, lawmakers and Gov. Sam Brownback will confront a bleak financial situation when the Legislature returns in January.

Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, argued Brownback is required by law to make cuts himself because state finances are in the red. The governor's office said the administration is not planning to make allotments.

The figures are sure to provide ammunition to campaigns ahead of the November general election just weeks away. Democrats and moderate Republicans have made the budget and taxes a prominent issue.

Month after month, with only a few exceptions, the revenue reports have disappointed. Sometimes the shortfall is small — $10.5 million in August. In other months, the numbers are staggering: May fell $76 million below expectations.

On Tuesday, a working group assembled by Brownback to examine why estimates are so frequently off will present its findings and recommendations.

Individual income tax collections were off by about $14 million, or 6 percent. The Kansas Department of Revenue cited weaker than expected quarterly payments related to capital gains and the stock market in explaining the figures.

Corporate income taxes came in short by $17 million, or 21 percent. Retail sales tax collections fell short by $9 million, or about 5 percent.

The approximately $45 million monthly shortfall represents a miss of about 8 percent. So far during the fiscal year, which began in July, Kansas has collected $69 million less in taxes than projected.

"The significant contributors to less-than-expected September receipts were individual estimated payments related to capital gains and the stock market; a continued regional trend of low corporate tax receipts and sales tax receipts," Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said in a statement. "Withholding tax receipts, which are an indicator of jobs and income, continues to perform above the previous year."

Even before the September figures, Kansas faced a budget shortfall. The state began the fiscal year in July with an anticipated positive ending balance of only $5 million that was quickly wiped away by poor July and August tax collections.

Though the state now faces a $60 million budget hole at least. Continued monthly revenue shortfalls could realistically push the figure past $100 million. A twice-yearly revenue forecast will also be released in November, and that projection could send the figure even higher.

"Sam Brownback’s continued refusal to truthfully acknowledge and address the failures of his economic policies not only threatens the future of our state, but insults our intelligence," Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said in a statement. "Kansas voters have the power to put an end to the ongoing Brownback budget crisis when they cast their ballots in November."

State budget director Shawn Sullivan asked agencies in August to provide budget scenarios featuring a 5 percent cut. Last week, he said Brownback’s budget proposal in January wouldn’t include across-the-board cuts, but acknowledged the current budget will have to be adjusted.

Wagle, citing a state law, said Brownback needs to make cuts to eliminate the budget shortfall. Hensley has also previously said Brownback should act before the legislative session.

"I served in the Kansas Senate when Kathleen Sebelius was governor and Mark Parkinson was governor and both of them cut across the board when we had a shortfall," Wagle said. "Clearly, our statutes require that when there is a shortfall in revenues and when the budget is in the red, the governor is supposed to allot."

Wagle said taxes cannot be cut without also cutting spending. No significant spending reductions were made in 2012 when the Legislature passed and Brownback signed tax cuts into law. The governor can't have it both ways, Wagle said.

Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said the administration is not planning to implement allotments.

"When the Legislature returns in January, we will present them with a workable structured budget for them to consider," Hawley said.

In an email to Republican lawmakers ahead of the release of the revenue figures, the House Appropriations Chairman, Rep. Ron Ryckman, Jr., R-Olathe, wrote that all ideas to stabilize the budget and protect taxpayers should be considered.

"Too often, election politics force simplistic arguments pitting revenue increases against cuts to essential services," Ryckman said. "It is imperative that we work together now and under the dome to have an open dialogue acknowledging the necessary complexity and balance required of the solutions we seek."

Kansas has faced rounds of budget cuts over the past two years. And in 2015, during the longest legislative session in Kansas history, the Legislature passed and Brownback signed a massive tax increase, hiking sales and cigarette taxes in an effort to raise revenue.

Lawmakers passed an unbalanced budget this spring, and Brownback in response cut public university spending by 4 percent. He also imposed a 4 percent reimbursement cut to KanCare providers.

The Kansas Supreme Court will also rule in a school finance lawsuit that could force millions in additional education spending. Estimates vary, but legislators may have to appropriate upwards of $900 million to comply with a ruling unfavorable to the state.

Boosting education spending while facing continued revenue shortfalls would only compound the task facing lawmakers. Democrats and moderate Republicans, especially, will face pressure to take action on taxes — perhaps by eliminating tax breaks for business owners that have caused consternation and charges of unfairness.

Yet tax changes would probably not happen fast enough to significantly alter the revenue outlook for the current budget year.

"Whatever we do this year really doesn’t take effect — because of the way the tax structure works — until next year," Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said. "No money comes in until next year."