The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Collection of delinquent taxes is up about 30 percent this year in Kentucky, amounting to nearly $16 million more already.

The back-tax collection might have set a record.

Finance and Administration Cabinet officials said Wednesday that they took in $68.4 million in delinquent tax payments in the first six months this year. That's a $15.8 million increase over the $52.6 million collected during the same time last year.

"I'm sure the last six months is the highest six months we've had, ever," said Mack Gillim, acting director of the cabinet's division of collections.

But state officials said that doesn't mean there is more money for government services because an estimate of the amount already was included in the state spending plan.

Approximately $800 million in overdue taxes is owed to the state at any one time, Gillim said. Of that amount, the state is able to go after only about $250 million because the rest is tied up in protests, bankruptcies or for other reasons, he said.

Overall, the state is pursuing about 60,000 unpaid individual and business tax accounts, Gillim said. He said he is not sure how many taxpayers contributed to the $68.4 million collected in the first six months this year.

In June, a group of economists and state officials estimated that the state will have a little more than $300 million in new revenue over the two years that began July 1. Bill Hintze, deputy budget director, said that estimate included much of the $68 million in overdue taxes paid to the state.

Administration officials attributed the increase in back-tax collections to technological improvements, a renewed emphasis on going after tax delinquents and changes in fees resulting from a 2002 tax amnesty.

The state also authorized $100,000 in overtime for collectors, Gillim said. He said the cabinet reassigned some employees to collecting back taxes and strongly encouraged delinquents to pay by credit card or electronic withdrawal from bank accounts, making for more routine payments to the state.

"That's a whole lot more efficient, and the default rate is a whole lot lower," Gillim said of electronic tax payments.