Connecticut’s budget deficit is estimated at $77.9 million for this fiscal year, according to new projections from the state Office of Fiscal Analysis.
The estimated deficit would be closer to $157.9 million, analysts say, if it weren’t for the $120 million in revenue the attorney general’s office received from a recent settlement with Royal Bank of Scotland Securities.
OFA also reported a reduction in personal income tax collections of $80 million.
Outstanding are $60.6 million in unidentified bottom-line targeted savings that have already been budgeted. The estimate assumes these savings will be achieved by the end of the year, OFA states.
The OFA’s estimate conflicts with Comptroller Kevin Lembo’s Oct. 3 report that the state is on track to end the current fiscal year in balance.
“We stand by our projections and will update them as the law requires in a week,” said Chris McClure, a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
He added that estimates are just that — imprecise, but that state officials are doing “what’s necessary to keep our budget in balance and end the year in the black.”
