Pennsylvania Budget Deficit Tops $1.1 Billion

Another month, another depressing tax collection report from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

Acting Secretary of Revenue Stephen H. Stetler announced Monday that Pennsylvania collected $2.2 billion in General Fund revenue in January, which was $261.7 million, or 10.7 percent, less than anticipated.

Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $13.3 billion, which is $1.1 billion, or 7.5 percent, below estimate, Stetler announced.

With five months left in the 2008-09 fiscal year, Pennsylvania may have to revise its projected deficit yet again. The most recent guess by Gov. Ed Rendell is that the state will finish the fiscal year with a $2.3 billion deficit.

A few highlights (or should I say lowlights) from the January revenue report:

* Sales tax receipts totaled $799.6 million for January, $55.9 million below estimate. Sales tax collections, year-to-date, total $5 billion, which is $238.5 million, or 4.5 percent, less than anticipated.

* Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in January was $1.1 billion, $141.2 million below estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $5.7 billion, which is $275.9 million, or 4.6 percent, below estimate.

* January corporation tax revenue of $103.3 million was $18.1 million below estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $1.5 billion, which is $152.8 million, or 9.4 percent, below estimate.

You can read the full report at the link below:

Pennsylvania Revenue Department Releases January Collections

For a Republican perspective on the massive budget debt under Gov. Ed Rendell, check out recent posts containing information from Rep. Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) and Rep. Curt Schroder (R-Chester).