Cedar Rapids Gazette: The state of Iowa is having a better-than-expected tax collection year, thanks mostly to federal tax changes. With less than a full month remaining in the current fiscal year, net receipts flowing into the Iowa treasury approached $7.07 billion — a 7.8 percent growth rate that was about $515 million more than state taxes collected during the first 11 months of fiscal 2018, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. The robust rate of tax collections likely means the state will finish fiscal 2019 on June 30 well above the yearly growth estimate of 4.8 percent set by the Revenue Estimating Conference.