Gov. Mike Pence’s plan to eliminate the tax on business equipment would mean significantly higher taxes for other property owners if the state took no specific action to protect them, according to a new analysis.
Indiana’s fiscal picture is looking good with about $2 billion in cash reserves and a strong credit rating, but the next few years could leave the state in a fiscal pinch.
New projections show Indiana will have nearly $300 million less in tax revenue to spend over the next two years than lawmakers thought when they wrote the current two-year budget.
State agencies will have to cut their budgets an additional 1.5 percent and state universities will see their state aid clipped by 2 percent as the state looks to make up a $141 million drop in tax collections.
The 12-mile Indiana portion of the 47-mile highway, which would link northern Indiana with Chicago's south suburbs, has an estimated $300 million cost.
Tax receipts for the first quarter of the state's fiscal year have missed projections that were used to write the current two-year budget.
Office of Management and Budget Director Chris Atkins said the state’s cash reserves will keep many programs going up to a month before running short.
The report released by the State Budget Agency said Indiana's general fund revenue fell about 5 percent below the latest target.
A lobbying group is hoping it can persuade Indiana lawmakers to approve tax incentives to companies making movies in the state, saying it will create jobs.
Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday praised budget closeout numbers showing the state with $93 million in an ongoing surplus and $86 million more than expected in cash reserves.
The state lottery expects to pull in $945 million for the fiscal year ending June 30. Meanwhile, lottery operator GTECH Indiana plans to start televising Powerball and Mega Millions drawings this summer.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday he will shuffle where state agencies focus most of their efforts. State Budget Director Chris Atkins said the new priorities reflect the goals that Pence laid out in his campaign.
Lawmakers overall increased school funding 2 percent next year and 1 percent the following year. But shifts in how that money is awarded mean some districts actually might see decreases.
The first monthly revenue report since lawmakers passed a new two-year state budget came in 4 percent higher than projections made just a few weeks ago.
The General Assembly’s work left some groups happy, some disappointed.
Lawmakers worked feverishly into the wee hours to hammer out agreements on the budget and other issues, including an expansion of the state's school voucher program and changes to sentencing laws.
A decision to cut state funding by 38 percent for programs that help people stop smoking and try to prevent others from starting worries those behind the state's tobacco cessation efforts.
The Indiana General Assembly worked into the night Friday to hammer out final details on a two-year, $30 billion budget containing new tax cuts, a modest expansion of school vouchers, new oversight of the $2.8 billion Rockport coal gasification project and a series of other measures.
Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to Thursday by lawmakers. The plan also repeals the inheritance tax retroactive to Jan. 1.
Indiana's new state budget will include at least a small personal income tax cut, although legislative leaders said Wednesday they weren't certain whether it will be as large as Republican Gov. Mike Pence wants.
