If trends hold, Idaho could have sizable budget surplus
State tax revenues are coming in ahead of forecasts, and if current trends hold, Idaho could have a substantial budget surplus by the end of the current fiscal year.
In August, state general fund tax revenues were 2.2 percent ahead of forecasts and 6 percent higher than last August, according to Gov. Butch Otter’s Division of Financial Management. Coming on top of July’s strong revenues, that puts fiscal year-to-date general fund revenues at $530.3 million, 3.3 percent ahead of forecast and 7.8 percent ahead of the same period a year earlier.
All three of the main categories of state tax revenues exceeded forecasts in August: Individual income taxes, corporate income taxes and sales taxes.
But the state’s general fund is actually even more flush at this point, the Legislative Budget Office reports. That’s because on top of the higher-than-expected revenues, the state Department of Health and Welfare reverted $19.1 million back to the General Fund in August, $16.1 million of that from Medicaid, due to unspent funds from the past year. Plus, the state’s revenue forecast has been revised by state economists, as it is each August to reflect economic conditions and results of enacted legislation, and is now $28.3 million higher than it was when lawmakers set the state budget in the spring.
Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/10/if-trends-hold-idaho-headed-for-a-state-budget-sur/