Tennessee’s tax collections have fallen short of projections in the first month of the budget year. The Tennessee Finance Commissioner said in a news release that the weak revenues reflect a slow economic recovery on the national level. The state’s total general fund collections for August were $660 million or about $6 million less than budgeted. The August collections reflect economic activity in the previous month. Sales taxes grew by just 1.1 percent during the month to $569 million, or nearly $16 million below expectations. But corporate franchise and excise taxes beat projections by $5 million. Sales tax collections posted a 6.6 percent annual growth rate in the budget year that ended June 30, while corporate taxes grew by 22 percent.