N.J. budget shortfall grows to $705 billion
Thursday, January 3, 2013 Last updated: Thursday January 3, 2013, 10:42 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
Halfway through the fiscal year, Governor Christie’s budget is $705 million short of revenue projections, with more than a dozen income sources trailing his growth estimates.
The shortfall puts his proposed income tax cut in jeopardy. Also in potential trouble are millions in state spending now earmarked for property tax relief and for a payment to the public employee pension fund.
And the budget problems could also hamper the state’s ability to provide financial help to towns hit by superstorm Sandy.
New Jersey will need “spectacular revenue acceleration” during the final six months of the fiscal year to keep Christie’s budget in balance, David Rosen, budget analyst for the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, told lawmakers on Thursday.
“Nothing in the national or state economic picture suggests that such growth is likely,” he said.
Superstorm Sandy’s impact on the state economy is a factor that analysts are still trying to fully understand, Rosen said.
Christie signed a $31.7 billion budget in June that projected an 8 percent growth in the economy, a financial outlook bolder than nearly every other state’s
estimate. Legislators in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly passed that budget, but postponed Christie’s call to begin a 10 percent cut in income taxes until state finances improved.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/Spectacular_revenue_growth_needed_to_keep_Christies_budget_balanced_analyst_says.html
Typical political bullshit.