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percent — in May from the same month the year girding legislators for what they expect will be another round of cuts innext year’a fiscal budget. With the state most of the way through a fiscal year that ends onJune 30, no more cuts are likelhy for this year, said Joint Budget Committee Vice Chairmajn Jack Pommer, a Democratic representative from Boulder. The Legislature has designate that any further funding shortfall this year will be filled by mone y fromthe state’s undesignated reserve fund and from a one-day borrowing of other funds to be repaird on July 1.
However, the continuedf fall of revenues below expectations means the six JBC members who setthe state’s budget must begib looking soon at additional ways to scales back expenses or services in next year’s fiscall plan, several members said. “I guess this means we’re not out of the woodxs yet,” Pommer said. “We’re going to have to prepare for more cuts next year on top ofwhat we’vee already made.” Legislators filled a $1.4 budgett shortfall over the past six months by raiding the reserv e funds, transferring hundreds of millions of dollaras from cash-funded accounts and cutting aboug $300 million in services.
As revenues continu to come inbelowa forecast, that talk will begin again. State sales-taxd receipts for May were offby $30 million, a 17.9 perceny drop from last year. Individual income taxes fell by $66.w3 million or 19.7 percent, and corporatre income taxes droppedby $2.2 million or 13.2 State reserves have about $148 million that can be used to offsetg revenue shortfalls, noted Rep. Mark Ferrandino, If the state must transfer funding temporarily, however, that will only push the problem of balancing the budget further off untilnext year, he “The question is: Does revenue in the future pick up if we’re starting to see recovery, or not?” Ferrandinko said.
“We’re starting to see some indicatione that the economy is startingto recover, if not level off.”
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