HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon delivered significant monetary news on Wednesday during his monthly financial and economic update.
According to a release from the state, Scanlon projected a Fiscal Year 2025 General Fund surplus of $113.2 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $126.4 million. Both were in general agreement with the Office of Policy and Management’s projections.
Scanlon said the state’s fiscal health “continues to be in prime condition” and that Connecticut is preparing to make another historic pension payment and embark on the next budgeting season.
“While the stock market remains strong, our office is closely watching the Federal Reserve to see what impact an anticipated – and overdue – rate cut will have on our overall economic picture, and we remain optimistic, especially in light of our full Rainy Day Fund, which will ensure we can weather any downturn,” Scanlon said.
Scanlon noted in a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont that while the surplus is lower than projected, revenue projections are $148.6 million higher than budgeted, which partially offsets projected higher-than-expected expenditures, according to the state. Meanwhile, the Special Transportation Fund’s projected surplus is $58.3 million higher than budgeted.
The state notes that the Office of the State Comptroller is currently projecting that, after the final closeout of FY 2024, $940.5 million will be used to pay down state employees’ and teachers’ retirement pension debts. The Budget Reserve Fund, also termed the Rainy Day Fund, will be at its statutory limit.
“This would mark more than $8.5 billion in payments to these pension obligations in the past five years,” the state says.
During a time in which national unemployment rose slightly to 4.3%, the state says Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropped for a fourth month in a row to 3.6% in July. Additionally, private sector payroll employment hit a new all-time high.
Consumer prices also rose 2.9% for the year through July, which the state says marks the first such reading below 3% since 2021.
“Given the progress on inflation and cooling of the labor market, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin cutting interest rates in September,” the state says.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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