State tax collections were down 1.6 percent through the first nine months of the fiscal year, the state Department of Taxation reported yesterday.

The performance is better than the 2.5 percent decline projected by the state Council on Revenues through the fiscal year that ends in June.

When the delay in paying state income tax refunds is factored, collections are up 2.3 percent over the previous fiscal year. Gov. Linda Lingle has chosen to delay tax refunds until the next fiscal year, which starts in July, to help get through the year without a budget deficit.

General-excise and use taxes, the largest single category of revenues, are off 4.4 percent. Hotel-room taxes are up 5 percent. Income tax revenue is up 9.3 percent. Corporate tax revenue is down 26 percent.