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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA highly anticipated revenue forecast for the state of Indiana—which will impact budget negotiations next year— showed the state with 2017 general fund revenue projections of about $300 million, or 2 percent, below a previous forecast.
Top state lawmakers on the Indiana State Budget Committee received the bad short-term news Thursday at the annual budget forecast meeting, where a bipartisan group of state analysts presented their findings.
But they also got some good news about long-term trends that show the state is expected to grow revenue 2.9 percent in 2018 and 3.9 percent in 2019. That would bring in a total of $1 billion in projected new revenue during that time.
The 2 percent drop in projected 2017 general fund revenue from a prior December 2015 forecast is mainly due to a $265 million expected drop in sales tax revenue, which budget analysts said Thursday was due to lower gas prices.
Corporate income tax revenue for 2017 is also projected to be $54.6 million, or 5.7 percent, lower than previously projected; and riverboat gambling revenue is expected to be down $8.9 million, or about 3 percent.
The report follows top lawmakers sounding alarm bells over the next two-year budget after year-to-date revenue collections in the state’s general fund were 1.6 percent, or $75.7 million, below state forecasts as of October.
The Indiana General Assembly will start meeting in January to craft the 2017-2019 budget.
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