State Comptroller Kevin Lembo is projecting that Connecticut ended the 2016 fiscal year on June 30th $279 million in the red. That’s about a $36 million improvement on what Lembo had predicted last month.
Lembo said Tuesday some one-time revenue from federal grants is what is responsible for helping lower the deficit. He said the state’s $407 million reserve fund should be sufficient to cover the projected deficit but there’s little room for error.
“With any luck, the deficit will shrink a little bit more," he said. "But it also may increase if Medicaid numbers don’t hold as they are presently holding.”
Lembo said he’s also concerned that income tax revenue is coming in at more than $500 million less than had been projected. He said forecasting the deficit has been complicated by erratic reports on job and wage growth, both locally and nationally.
A final unaudited 2016 revenue report will be available at the end of September.
This report contains information from CRN.
