Sorry for the drought of updates, but there has been a drought of news coming from state government these days (outside of the Trooper Shirley controversy). Unfortunately, we have news from the state, and it’s not good news.
August revenue collections fell about $56 million dollars short of projections. The state had projected that business taxes and sales tax collections would remain relatively flat. However, there has been a decline in both. This is certainly not the way the state wanted to start out the fiscal year.
I spoke with Commissioner Goetz today, and he hopes the state can make up the shortfall over the course of the next eleven months. That said, he realizes that there appears to be no upturn in the economy in sight. So, he sent out a memo to department heads letting them know that they’ll need to have a 3 percent base reduction contingency plan. It also says that, assuming sales and business taxes stay flat, the state will have to cut another $175 million from the 08-09 budget. Goetz said that agencies are still trying to absorb the impact of the recent losses through the voluntary buyout program, so an extra 3 percent is going to be tough to find. If that’s the route the state takes, expect to see services impacted.
If departments didn’t “achieve the savings” expected through the voluntary buyout program, they will need to achieve those savings in the new budget. If the department decides to reduce personnel, it can not lay off someone who applied for the buyout but wasn’t accepted.
Goetz mentioned that the reserves are very healthy. However, he reiterated the governor’s stance on using the funds when there’s no end in sight for this economic downturn.
Hey there,
Was there a list of the people Trooper Shirley did the background checks on? I would be curious…
Thank you!
Charley