Illinois Income Tax Receipts Down 10.7% In 2009
April is a key month for state tax collectors. On the 15th,
individual income tax returns are due. Most states' fiscal year also
ends around that time, meaning an unexpected tax receipt shortfall
leaves lawmakers little choice but to trim the budget -- or find new
revenue...
April is a key month for state tax collectors. On the 15th, individual income tax returns are due. Most states' fiscal year also ends around that time, meaning an unexpected tax receipt shortfall leaves lawmakers little choice but to trim the budget -- or find new revenue -- in the middle of the following year. According to new data from the New York-based Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, legislators in Illinois and other states might have to do just that.
Released today, the Rockfeller Institute's report (PDF) "April Is the Cruelest Month" shows deep declines in overall personal income tax revenues in nearly every reporting state. That includes Illinois, where total personal income tax collections from January to April of this year fell 10.7 percent as compared to the same period in 2008. In Illinois, personal income tax accounts for 35.4 percent of all taxes the state collects, right at the national average. Other states are in worse shape as the source of revenue shrinks. New York, for instance, relies on the personal income tax for almost 56 percent of its tax revenue. The data again shows how the global recession is digging into Americans' wallets and "consequently, state coffers."
It's also a good reminder that the budget cuts currently being pushed by some in Illinois won't make the state's fiscal problems disappear. Next year, revenues could rebound slightly, but so will demand for state services. Then, the following year, the infusion of stimulus dollars will run out. Cutting state services to the bone now, which puts state's most vulnerable at an enormous risk, does not mean that we won't need to further repair the budget in 2010.
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Info:
The Illinois state budget is implemented annually for a fiscal term that runs from July 1st to June 31st of the following year. [1] The state budget is drafted by the Governor. [2] The Governor prepares suggestions for the amount of funds that will be appropriated to each department, provides estimates of the incoming revenue that will be derived from sources other than taxation and estimates the amount of revenue that must be raised through taxes. [2]
As of March 2009, Illinois is expected to face an $11.5 billion shortfall by the end of the fiscal year. [3] [4]
The Illinois state government appropriated $86,401,237,988.00 to be spent in the 2008 fiscal year.[5]
The Illinois state government appropriated $67,693,357,273.26 to be spent in the 2007 fiscal year.[6]
Fiscal Year General Funds Expenditures % Change from Previous Year
1999 $21,527,000,000[7] 9.4%[7]
2000 $22,976,000,000[7] 6.7%[7]
2001 $24,583,000,000[7] 7.0%[7]
2002 $25,125,000,000[7] 2.2%[7]
2003 $24,861,000,000[8] -1.0%[7]
2004 $26,365,000,000[9] 6.0%[9]
2005 $28,247,000,000[10] 7.1%[10]
2006 $28,452,000,000[11] 0.7%[11]
2007 $30,116,000,000[7] 5.8%[7]
........
Reasons for the budget crisis
There are several reasons for the current budget crisis in Illinois(recreation), a deficit which is expected to stand at $11.5 billion by July 1, 2009. [12] The budget already contained a deficit of approximately $2 billion when it was passed, since legislators and Governor Blagojevich could not reach a suitable compromise. Now, not only must Illinois continue to deal with the Governor's scandal, but also the huge budget deficit that will only continue to grow if left unchecked.
As laid out in the $11.6 deficit calculation by Governor Quinn, Illinois’s state spending would increase from $31.487 billion in 2009 to $34.261 billion in 2011, an increase of $2.774 billion or almost 9 percent. Holding spending constant from 2009 would erase $2.774 billion off the deficit, leaving a deficit of just $8.832 billion
more
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Illinois_state_budget
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