Post by Logan on May 15, 2016 2:45:18 GMT -6
BOSTON >> Unlike Gov. Charlie Baker and House leaders, Massachusetts Senate leaders preparing their annual fiscal 2017 spending bill have the benefit of updated tax collection data, and the latest numbers are not promising.
The Department of Revenue last week reported that tax collections in April, the biggest month of the year for receipts, were down by $92 million or 3 percent compared to April 2015. The decline left tax receipts $261 million below fiscal 2016 budget benchmarks that were raised by Gov. Baker's team in January. The April tax haul alone missed the monthly benchmark by $172 million.
"I would say crisis is a strong word," Senate President Stanley Rosenberg told 980 AM WCAP Tuesday morning, when pressed about budget woes. "I would say that we definitely are concerned. And we do under the constitution have to balance our budget. This is a national trend at the moment as best we can tell. Connecticut's having a revenue collection problem as is California and some other states."
State revenue department officials are analyzing the numbers.
"We're off on capital gains I believe," said Rosenberg, a former chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "We're still strong on sales. We're weak on collections for certain taxes that relate to employment, so there's some cyclical problems that occur. There's some weakness. We've built an extremely strong and resilient economy here in Massachusetts. We used to be the first into recession and among the last out. Now we're among the last into recession and among the first out of recession. We have a pretty strong economy, but it doesn't mean that every month every year is going to be smooth sailing."
Read more: www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_29893741/rosenberg-sees-200-million-gap-massachusetts-budget.html
The Department of Revenue last week reported that tax collections in April, the biggest month of the year for receipts, were down by $92 million or 3 percent compared to April 2015. The decline left tax receipts $261 million below fiscal 2016 budget benchmarks that were raised by Gov. Baker's team in January. The April tax haul alone missed the monthly benchmark by $172 million.
"I would say crisis is a strong word," Senate President Stanley Rosenberg told 980 AM WCAP Tuesday morning, when pressed about budget woes. "I would say that we definitely are concerned. And we do under the constitution have to balance our budget. This is a national trend at the moment as best we can tell. Connecticut's having a revenue collection problem as is California and some other states."
State revenue department officials are analyzing the numbers.
"We're off on capital gains I believe," said Rosenberg, a former chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "We're still strong on sales. We're weak on collections for certain taxes that relate to employment, so there's some cyclical problems that occur. There's some weakness. We've built an extremely strong and resilient economy here in Massachusetts. We used to be the first into recession and among the last out. Now we're among the last into recession and among the first out of recession. We have a pretty strong economy, but it doesn't mean that every month every year is going to be smooth sailing."
Read more: www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_29893741/rosenberg-sees-200-million-gap-massachusetts-budget.html