BEN NEARY Associated Press writer | Posted: Saturday, January 12, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The latest estimate from a state financial panel predicts Wyoming's general fund will take in slightly less money over the next two years than the panel predicted three months ago.
While the projected reduction is slight, many lawmakers say it sends the message just before next month's legislative budget session that Wyoming needs to watch its spending.
In October, the state's Consensus Revenue Estimating Group predicted that revenues into the state's general fund would be just over $3.2 billion for the two-year budget cycle that begins in July. Friday's CREG estimate predicts revenues will be just below $3.2 billion - a projected drop of $15.3 million.
"That doesn't even hardly hit the radar screen," CREG Co-Chairman Steve Sommers said Friday of the group's lowered projection.
And while the latest CREG report scaled back projections for the state's general fund, Sommers said it also increased projections for the state's budget reserve account by close to $70 million. That means the group is predicting an overall increase in total revenue available for government operations for the coming two years.
Two years ago, however, Wyoming had more than $1 billion in its Budget Reserve Account as lawmakers sat down to craft a two-year state budget. Today, that figure is less than $300 million.
And the CREG's projections of state income call for a decrease from $4.3 billion in the current two-year fiscal cycle to $3.6 billion for the coming two-year period. The fundamental cost of running state government at its current size, meanwhile, is about $2.8 billion, officials say.
That means that while Wyoming is still flush, it's not as flush as it used to be.