the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio delivered a written revenue update to the Assembly Budget Committee today, announcing that revenue collections are expected to hit an all-time high, bolstered by economic activity which has recovered more than a year earlier than national forecasters predicted just six months ago.
In light of the cancellation of additional in-person hearings, both Treasury and the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) submitted written revenue updates today.
Preliminary comparisons of the revenue forecasts show that both Treasury and OLS are in near alignment on their updated projections for the major taxes, with a current minimal net difference of around $100 million over fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
Treasury is projecting that baseline revenues for Fiscal Year (FY21) – excluding COVID-19 Emergency Borrowing proceeds – will hit almost $44.0 billion, well above the FY19 pre-pandemic peak of $38.3 billion.
Total appropriations for FY21 are expected to be $41.59 billion, up $379 million from February and Treasury now projects closing out FY21 with a total combined surplus of $10.1 billion – between the undesignated fund balance and the Surplus Revenue Fund (Rainy Day Fund) – which represents an increase of $3.765 billion from February estimates.
$6.5 billion in federal relief funds sent to New Jersey, plus plus $4 billion in new borrowing by the Murphy Administration and massive new taxes placed on residents.
The revised total appropriations for the Governor’s proposed FY22 budget are $44.96 billion, up $130 million from February estimates, and Treasury is now projecting a total combined surplus of $6.935 billion to close out FY22 – which is a $4.74 billion increase over February projections.
