STARKVILLE — Sales tax receipts are up statewide compared to this time last year, State Treasurer Tate Reeves said Monday, and the city of Starkville is no exception.

But Reeves predicted a tough year ahead for the state”s economy, despite the slight upturn.

“Our economy is likely to get worse before it gets better,” Reeves told the Starkville Rotary Club Monday afternoon at the Starkville Country Club.

For the first eight months of this fiscal year, sales tax receipts statewide have increased 1.7 percent compared to the first eight months of the 2007-08 fiscal year, Reeves said. No monetary figures were available.

Meanwhile, sales tax receipts in Starkville increased .94 percent in the first six months of the 2008-09 fiscal year compared to 2007-08, according to statistics released by the city. In the first six months of fiscal year 2007-08, sales tax receipts in the city totaled about $2.59 million. So far this fiscal year, the total is about $2.62 million.

Statewide, personal income tax collected by the state has increased .7 percent so far this fiscal year compared to the first eight months of the 2007-08 fiscal year, Reeves said.

On a down note, however, corporate income tax collected by the state has decreased by about 20 percent so far this fiscal year compared to last year, he said.

Additionally, Reeves said he expects overall revenue to drop 2.4 percent this fiscal year compared to last year, plus another 1 percent in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

“We”re seeing a declining environment more so than an expanding environment,” Reeves said.

Still, the economic crisis hasn”t hit Mississippi as hard as it has in other parts of the country, he noted.

“We”re doing much better than most states,” Reeves said. “We didn”t experience the peaks, so we”re not experiencing the trough.”