New DE revenue projection

    Tax and fee increases approved in June help increase Delaware’s revenue picture by more than $240-million.

    Delaware lawmakers spent the majority of their time in Dover this year trying to craft a balanced state budget while playing catch-up with dwindling revenue forecasts.  Now, history seems ready to repeat itself.  The latest numbers from the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) show the results the tax and fee increases approved by lawmakers in June, but those increases are being off-set by declines in other revenue sources.

    The revenue estimate for the current fiscal year (FY 2010) now stands at $3.14-billion that includes a $243-million increase in revenue through taxes and fees approved earlier this year.  While the increase is more than welcome news for state officials, it was offset by a $47-million decline in other revenue sources, including a decline in revenue expected to be generated by sports betting.

    The expected revenue is about $50-million more than what Delaware is budgeted to spend this year, but the recent trend has seen revenues decline through the year following the September estimate.  In September 2008, DEFAC estimated state revenue for FY 2009 at $3.41-billion.  Actual FY 2009 revenue was $3.14-billion, a drop of more than $260-million.

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    Looking forward to fiscal year 2011, the revenue estimate stands at $3.2-billion.  That’s an increase of more than $200-million from the council’s estimate made in June.

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