A report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) predicts that the Commonwealth is still hundreds of million dollars short of a balanced budget for the current fiscal year, FY2010. The prospects are equally bad for next year FY2011 when they predict a $3 billion shortfall in the state budget despite the cuts already made. One fault that the MTF consistently found was the use of one time revenue to plug budget holes. You can read the entire report here.
Given their findings, it would seem that ...
... Dartmouth may see additional cuts to school and local aid before the end of FY2010.
The Governor has not issued a proposed 2011 budget as yet but it is sure to contain even more cuts. Our projection was for a 5% cut in state local aid and a level funded Chapter 70 amount. I have to say that both predictions seem pretty conservative but when you see reports such as this one, it gives you pause.
A major problem is that revenues will inevitably lag the actual recovery and the states and municipalities have been burning through reserves and have little left to fall back on. Our Commonewealth is by no measure in the worst shape among all the staes and I hope that the federal government will provide a lifeline to the states. It is not a good time to be governor anywhere in the nation and I expect that the voters will turn the current occupants out next year. I am not sure that there is much the governors can do about it though.
Friday, December 11, 2009
State Fiscal woes deepen
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7 comments:
Another federal stimulus coming down the pike-
Bill,
Did I read the paper right when they said the new bedford harbor superfund is getting an additional $30million on top of the normal $15million for this year alone? That's as much as our entire tax levy. Now that money is being redirected to surrounding towns for things like marsh restoration projects. I love the environment but it seems to me that some people are using environmentalism as a cover for directing huge sums of taxpayer money wherever they want it to go.
Why don't I hear anything about the spendthrift Democrats that have controlled the Mass general assembly for years? You can bet if it were republican controlled,we would be looking for jail time.
Partisan politics...last time I checked, YOUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT increased the deficit. OH and wait...South Carolina, Texas and many RED(republican controlled) states are having DEEPER fiscal troubles than this LIBERAL state of Massachusetts.
Obama is on a path to increase the debt more than all 43 previous presidents combined. It must be Bush's fault.
we were talking about state government...alot of RED states are worse of than our blue state
Democrats will probably raise the sales tax here again if they have too.
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