Ever so slight increase in Delaware revenue

The panel that sets Delaware’s official revenue projections has bumped up its estimates, but only slightly.

The Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council on Monday increased it revenue estimate for the current year by $11.4 million above its June estimate. The change is mostly due to personal income tax refunds being lower than previously expected.

Personal income taxes also played a role in the council’s decision to increase its revenue estimate for next fiscal year by $29.8 million.

The meeting was the panel’s first since lawmakers passed a $3.9 billion spending plan for the current year, which began July 1.

Although this year’s budget is about 2.5 percent higher than last year’s, lawmakers are bracing themselves for potentially painful decisions in the future, given troubling revenue projections for fiscal 2017.