The governor’s budget chief confirms the state has a budget dilemma for the fiscal year that ended last Friday, June 30th. Iowa Department of Management director Dave Roderer’s calculations indicate the state’s “cash receipts” for the past 12 months fell 76 million dollars BELOW projections. The state’s budget was based on those projections. The “books” on Fiscal Year 2017 won’t be officially closed until September, so some taxes that were due before by last Friday may be paid, plus some state agencies may have unspent funds. “So there’s still a lot of checking that needs to be done before we will know for certain how the fiscal year has ended,” Roederer says.

A Legislative Services Agency report released Monday indicated “total net receipts” over the past 12 months were 104 MILLION dollars below expectations. Roederer says his analysis is based on “cash receipts” and — for example — does not include estimates of any outstanding tax refunds the state must pay. Governor Kim Reynolds has the authority to withdraw 50 MILLION dollars from the state’s “Economic Emergency Fund” to help balance the state budget.

Roederer says Reynolds “could very well” be able to manage the problem on her own. HOWEVER, If the budget deficit winds up being LARGER than 50-million, she’ll have to call the legislature back into special session to withdraw more money from state savings. Democrats in the legislature say the situation shows Republican budget policy is “out of whack” because of too many tax “give-aways.”

(Radio Iowa)