Biz-tax revenues plunge
-
- July
- 17
Reflecting the weak economy, business-tax collections for the first quarter of the year were $453 million less than anticipated, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said today.
Yet overall revenue was up, largely because of eimbursements from the federal government tied to money already spent. Bank-tax receipts plummeted 54 percent.
“This looks like a strong start to the fiscal year, but looks can be deceiving,” DiNapoli said. “The growth in revenue probably won’t continue. The drop in business tax collections is a more realistic reflection of the current economic climate and is a strong signal that the state must spend with caution. Last year was a roller coaster and the ride isn’t over yet.”
Gov. David Paterson is “monitoring the situation,’’ and the state will release an updated plan on its finances soon, said state Budget Division spokesman Matt Anderson.
“As Gov. Paterson has consistently noted, we are clearly dealing with a struggling economy,’’ Anderson said.
Yet overall revenue was up, largely because of eimbursements from the federal government tied to money already spent. Bank-tax receipts plummeted 54 percent.
“This looks like a strong start to the fiscal year, but looks can be deceiving,” DiNapoli said. “The growth in revenue probably won’t continue. The drop in business tax collections is a more realistic reflection of the current economic climate and is a strong signal that the state must spend with caution. Last year was a roller coaster and the ride isn’t over yet.”
Gov. David Paterson is “monitoring the situation,’’ and the state will release an updated plan on its finances soon, said state Budget Division spokesman Matt Anderson.
“As Gov. Paterson has consistently noted, we are clearly dealing with a struggling economy,’’ Anderson said.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm by Jay Gallagher.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: | 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Advertisement
Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
