Louisiana got a rare bit of good budget news: Gov. John Bel Edwards’ chief financial officer says the state ended the last budget year with a surplus topping $100 million.
Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne today outlined the better-than-expected finish to the 2016-17 budget year, saying Louisiana collected more money than projected from sales taxes and personal income taxes in the year that wrapped June 30.
“The books have been closed on the revenue side for Fiscal Year 2017, and we’re not going to have a deficit. The economists will be reporting that we have a surplus well in excess of $100 million, which is obviously good news,” Dardenne says.
State economists will provide further details on the tax collections to Louisiana’s income forecasting panel Thursday.
While the news is a bright spot for a state struggling through years of repeated financial shortfalls, Dardenne says the surplus won’t help with the $1 billion gap looming in mid-2018, when temporary sales taxes passed by lawmakers last year expire.
Surplus dollars, under Louisiana’s constitution, can only be spent on certain one-time expenses, like debt payments, construction work, coastal projects and replenishment of the “rainy day” fund. They can’t be used to pay for agency operations or ongoing programs.
“It does not affect in any way the reality of the cliff that we’ll face for next year, but it does signal that we’re heading in the right direction,” Dardenne says. “It’s very good news. But we have to temper the good news with the reality for the cliff.”
