HARTFORD--A new fiscal year, the same old budget problems.
Fiscal year 2017 begins on Friday, July 1, but despite efforts made during a special legislative session this spring to reduce the state budget deficit, the state will start the new year in debt.
The non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis says the state deficit for Fiscal Year 2016, which ends on June 30, stands at $323 million. The OFA and the governor's Budget Office agree the deficit is because of lower-than-expected taxes collected from income, sales and corporations. This means the issue will continue into next year because the budget projections were created based on the expected numbers.
Gov. Dan Malloy's Budget Office says it will likely need to use the state's rainy day fund to plug the hole since there's only two days before the fiscal year ends. That fund currently has $406 million in it.
The nearly-800 layoffs of state employees was meant to reduce the Fiscal Year 2017 budget deficit, not 2016.