Posted on 05/03/2006 8:02:08 AM PDT by SmithL
The state is collecting record-breaking tax revenues this year, outstripping even the most optimistic fiscal forecasts and setting the stage for a debate among lawmakers over what to do with the bounty as they craft next year's budget.
The Franchise Tax Board said it took in $11.3 billion in personal income tax payments this April, an amount larger than the $10.5 billion the state received in April 2001 at the height of the high-tech stock market boom.
The pace of revenues is amazing even the experts who make a living predicting how much the state will earn.
"We're very surprised by the strength," said Brad Williams, director of fiscal forecasting in the Legislative Analyst's Office, the Legislature's nonpartisan budget adviser. "The numbers we saw in April were extraordinary, way above expectations."
Experts in Williams' office and at the Department of Finance are scrambling to come up with an explanation for the dramatic increase in state income, up 40 percent over last April, before lawmakers begin to deliberate over the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
No single factor - the stock market, real-estate deals, or business growth - seems to explain it, Williams said.
And with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger due to come out this month with an updated version of next year's budget, policymakers will need to know whether to view the new money as a one-time bonanza or as a dependable stream of income that could continue into the future.
No matter what the reason, officials at the Department of Finance say the state could end up with about $4 billion more in its bank accounts this year than the governor predicted in January when he released his proposed $125.6 billion spending plan for the 2006-07 fiscal year.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Just like every other time California politicians get a few extra dollars, they'll use the money as a down-payment on big-ticket items.
Damn those tax cuts for the rich. ;-)
Earn?
How about give it back to the people it belongs to?
The pace of revenues is amazing even the experts who make a living predicting how much the state will earn confiscate.
Fixed.
That's really weird, because we know that CA state tax is based upon your federal (that's why when you file, you attach a copy of your federal return).
I'm not current anymore, but I believe California's top rate is something like 11 percent; much less than the Fed.
Could your situation be as it is because you got a very large state refund last year (making it state taxable income this year)?
So to those who want to bash our Governator... Shut up!
Apparently he IS doing a good job in spite of the Socialists
in Sacramento and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Oh they have to be kidding - sales tax and 7.5% on FUEL that might explain where the boost is coming from - do you really think they can't tell where the increase is coming from???
But boy would the s--t hit the fan if they made it public - infact you can expect to see the same kind of windfall for every state that has a sales tax on fuel.
Duh
I thought it was strange, too. I didn't get a refund last year, but paid a small amount. My parents had the same thing happen to them this year.
I agree. This country is full of lazy, fat-headed unintelligent slobs. The remainder are psycho socialists or foreign immigrants. This country doesen't have a chance in hell. I'm going to Alaska and pushing for secession :-)
I'm sure the sales tax on Gasoline had something to do with it, as well as some sales of homes (not "real estate deals" but people who have lived in California for 20-30 years and paid $10,000 for their home, sold it for $1.4 million... hard to hide all that profit from the taxman, for a common person who doesn't hide millions of dollars all the time.
it is sales tax on gas and real estate prices it is they that get the credit are you sure you want give the credit to the Guvanator?
I know.
Let's spend it!
---
The Gub and crew will make a token payment to paydown debt (if they have a clue) and blow the rest on a PR campaign to curry the teachers unions and parents favor in the upcoming election; i.e., by paying them their "owed" money..
Well, so is Arizona's. But do you think Sassy Nappy would refund anything or put it in an emergency fund? No, the money-monger will probably pour the money into some useless welfare merry-go-round...
Yell when you are packed and swing by WA state, I'll tag along.
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