Bill usually covers the Tennessee tax and budget beat, but I heard something this morning on the radio that I haven't seen on his blog yet. Chances to scoop Bill come about rarely, so I'm enjoying this one.
Bill posted here that Tennessee's State tax collections are running significantly above budgeted amounts, resulting in a surplus of 116 to 177 million dollars.
On April 11, the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration released data on tax revenue collections through March, the eighth month of collections for the fiscal year. With fully a quarter of the fiscal year to go, the state was already running a general-fund surplus of $103.1 million more than the budgeted estimate, powered by a $61.4 million surplus so far this year in sales tax revenue - and F&A estimated the full-year general-fund surplus would reach $177.4 million.
What Bill makes clear is that, according to the Tennessee Dept of Finance and Administration, the surplus is due to tax colections exceeding expectations.
But Gov Bredesen apparently doesn't see it that way.
Listening to the news this morning, I heard a statement from Bredesen, taking credit for the surplus, saying it was due to budget cuts and savings from Tenncare.
Bredesen, a Democrat, attributed the additional revenues to smart planning and his changes to the state's TennCare health-care program. That program's massive costs led Bredesen to cut nearly 200,000 adults from the rolls, reduce benefits and piece together another, cheaper health-care program.
Now, if somebody can explain to me how a cut in spending can result in an increase in revenue collections, then I'll be happy to give Bredesen the credit. However, it looks to me like a booming economy is the real benefactor here, not fiscal restraint from Nashville.
Goodness, did I actually use those words together in a sentence?
If Bredesen were a true fiscal conservative, his plan to spend the $177 million windfall wouldn't cost the State $266 million.
Posted by Rich at May 9, 2006 12:39 PM | TrackBack