San Francisco Chronicle: California state revenue down by $705 million

California revenues down by $705 million

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

San Francisco Chronicle October 11, 2011 04:00 AM

 

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Sacramento -- - Revenues flowed into state coffers at a lower rate than projected in September, short about $302 million, putting California a total of $705.5 million below expectations for the first three months of the fiscal year, Controller John Chiang said Monday.

Department of Finance officials cautioned that the controller's numbers count revenues in a way that may not show all the actual money on hand and that they may not be the most accurate picture of California's finances. Still, Chiang said the numbers were of concern.

As part of the budget deal signed in June, automatic trigger cuts would take place if revenues are projected to fall short of expectations by more than $1 billion. A second round of triggered cuts would take place if the revenues are short by $2 billion or more.

"For better or worse, the potential for revenue shortfalls is precisely why the governor and Legislature included trigger cuts in this year's state spending plan," Chiang said. "September's revenues alone do not guarantee that triggers will be pulled. But as the largest revenue month before December, these numbers do not paint a hopeful picture."

H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Department of Finance, said the decision about trigger cuts will be made based on an updated revenue forecast for the next year that will be made in December, not on cash reports.

"We've said it before and we'll say it again, you can't build a long-term trend off of just one month's cash receipts," Palmer said.

The Finance Department will release its report on September revenue receipts in the coming days.