$70.9 million deficit likely for fiscal year 2015: “Failure of Democrat leadership is evident”
August 4, 2015HARTFORD — The Malloy administration has a Friday deadline to collect an estimated $900 million in outstanding taxes from the recently concluded 2015 fiscal year.
The state comptroller’s office is projecting that the fiscal year ended with a $70.9 million deficit. Although the fiscal year ended June 30, the governor’s budget office says any of the taxes due that are received through Aug. 7 will be counted toward the revenue total for 2015.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his budget office battled a nagging budget shortfall for the last three quarters of the 2015 fiscal year, but the Democratic administration proved unable to erase the deficit through spending cuts and other cost-saving measures.
If just one-tenth of that estimated $900 million in outstanding taxes is collected, it would eliminate the projected shortfall — and the need to tap the state’s $519.3 million rainy-day fund to close the 2015 gap.
The administration reported Monday that $351.5 million in income taxes and $295.4 million in sales taxes were still due two weeks ago, along with $202.7 million due from hospitals, utilities and oil companies.
Various other taxes and revenue sources made up the rest.
Comptroller Kevin Lembo said Monday that his office will close the financial books on last year’s $19 billion budget in September and release a final accounting later.
The comptroller’s office concurred with the administration’s July 20 estimate of a $70.9 million shortfall in its final monthly budget report on the 2015 budget.
While state spending was $73.6 million less than budgeted for the year, revenue fell $144.5 million below initial budget expectations, according to the comptroller’s latest figures.
When the 2015 books are audited and closed, any remaining deficit will be eliminated through an automatic transfer from the Budget Reserve Fund at the end of this calendar year.
If that happens, it would be the first time the rainy-day fund has been tapped since it was emptied of nearly $1.3 billion to balance the 2010 and 2011 budgets during an earlier budget crisis.
Meanwhile, Malloy continues to take political heat from Republicans over the projected 2015 deficit.
“No one is rooting for failure, but the failure of Democrat leadership is evident and cannot be swept under the rug,” said Sen. Leonard A. Fasano, R-North Haven, the Republican leader of the Senate.