Paterson Warns Of More Fiscal Troubles For The State
If the Senate gridlock wasn’t enough, Gov. David Paterson warned today that state tax receipts are expected to be 35 percent lower than predictions just a few months ago.
“We are in very difficult times,” Paterson said during a speech to the New York Conference of Mayors in Saratoga Springs. “We are probably going to come out in the next couple of weeks with an economic forecast that no one is going to like.”
The state Legislature closed a nearly $18 billion deficit in the current fiscal year, and Paterson hailed the budget’s passage, saying it will limit the out-year budget gaps by 70 percent.
His budget office predicted just a $2.2 billion gap in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Budget observers have questioned whether the gaps were underestimated, and Paterson seemed to confirm that today, suggesting that the state may need to reopen the current budget again this summer.
“We may have just as difficult a budget to grapple with this summer as we did last year,” he said.
| 
Email This
Advertisements
