A Short Summary of the 2008 Budget
So, where are we with the state budget today?
First, let's look at the assumptions contained in the budget passed in 2008. The state's fiscal year runs from July-June. The budget passed into law in April 2008 during the 2008 fiscal year. The budget mainly pertains to fiscal years 2009 and 2010 which runs from July 2008 - June 2010. Here are the revenues projected for each year by the Consensus Forecasting Group (CFG) for each fiscal year during the budget:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $8.633 | $8.824 | $9.096 |
| (in billions) | ||
General Fund revenues are not the total resources to the state. Additionally, fiscal year 2008 began with $579 million carried over from fiscal year 2007. The CFG estimate combined with carry-overs and other resources yield the following projected total resources.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $9.504 | $9.370 | $9.428 |
| (in billions) | ||
Additionally, some revenues are reserved for future spending and for unexpected expenses. These funds include the Budget Reserve Trust Fund, commonly referred to as the state's "Rainy Day" fund.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $289 | $236 | $225 |
| (in millions) | ||
| Total Resources | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $9.793 | $9.604 | $9.653 |
| (in billions) | ||
| Percentage Increase | ||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| -1.9% | 0.5% | |
That's the revenue side of the budget passed in 2008. Here's the spending side:
Most of state spending is done by the executive branch. For the executive branch the budget appropriated:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $9.131 | $9.012 | $9.267 |
| (in billions) | ||
When the Legislative and Judicial budgets are included the appropriations total:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $9.458 | $9.331 | $9.619 |
| (in billions) | ||
Which leaves the following balances in reserve to carry into the next fiscal year:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| $335 | $273 | $34 |
| (in millions) | ||
All of this information is from the first page of the budget.
Things to note:
- Appropriations spend $200-$500 million more than forecast revenues annually.
- While total resources were forecast to decrease 0.7%, total appropriations increased slightly.
- The Reserve Fund and total reserves are almost completely spent in 2010.
