UPDATE:
As Florida slowly recovers from the recession, state economists released their official forecast on Thursday for the amount of tax revenue expected to come in over the next two years. The new number is about the same as the initial projection that state legislators used to draw up this year's budget. Chief economist Amy Baker said, because of the sluggish economy, the state should see a slow revenue growth of 4-to-5 percent-per-year for the next two years. And, she acknowledged, revenues could still be hurt by unpredictable factors.
“Continuing difficulties in the Eurozone and their ultimate impact on the credit market and current economic assumptions, present a risk to this forecast," she said, "as does the looming fiscal cliff in January in the United States.”
The modest expected growth could be good news for Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature because it would lessen the need for budget cuts in the near future.
This post was an update to a previous post, below:
As Florida slowly recovers from the recession, economists are releasing preliminary forecasts on Thursday for how the state’s main budget account should fare over the next two years. They expect growth of 4-to-5 percent per year between now and the middle of 2015.
The modest growth could be good news for Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature because it would lessen the need for budget cuts in the near future. Economists have been meeting all day, and will release a final figure late Thursday.
Chief economist Amy Baker says initial projections are in line with estimates that state legislators used to draw up this year's overall $70 billion state budget.
“When you look at our economic forecast, for ‘12-‘13, certainly it’s right on, pretty much, at the end of the day, with what we originally had," she said on Thursday.
Actual tax revenues might be less than projected, but even the most conservative estimates show a relatively tiny change to the state’s general revenue fund.