Bob Bernick, Utah Policy Contributing Editor
Tuesday afternoon, executive and legislative economists told legislative leaders that the state could have $100 million extra in the current fiscal year, which ends next June 30.
Already the state showed a $46 million surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012.
The new revenue estimates are actually in a range -- $0 extra cash up to $100 million.
The economists like to project on the conservative side, so it is more likely that current fiscal year’s extra money will be more toward $100 million than zero.
However, while the revenue estimates are favorable, state government still won’t see the tax collections of $5.4 billion in the general and education budgets that came in 2007, prior to the Great Recession.
The new estimates put those two fund collections at around $5 billion to $5.1 billion for fiscal 2013, which ends next June 30.
Members of the Executive Appropriations Committee, again, warned that special interest groups shouldn’t start planning how to spend that extra $100 million, should it really materialize.
However, is it customary for GOP leaders to, in effect, open the current year’s budget during the annual January-March general session and allocate some of those one-time monies that are accruing in state tax collection accounts.
Lawmakers don’t like to spend one-time monies on ongoing programs, like employee salaries.
Rather, that cash is historically spent on building things, like roads, school buildings and so on.
You can read the new revenue update report here, including charts that show historic revenues climbs and dips.
Post a Comment