A weakening economy has led State Comptroller Nancy Wyman to lower her projected 2008 state budget surplus to $152.2 million, a decrease of $74.6 million since last month.
Collections of the income tax dropped by about $30 million over the last month, according to Wyman, while sales-tax receipts dropped by about $20 million. Taxes that corporations pay on profits and the tax on real-estate transactions are also in decline.
The state has suffered two consecutive months of job losses, and the state’s unemployment rate has climbed to 5 percent, its highest level since May of 2005, leading to reduced collections of the payroll-withholding portion of the income tax.
Wyman said the final surplus figure will depend on the amount of final income tax payments that the state collects by April 15. The income tax accounts for about 60 percent of all tax revenue in the general fund.
