Controller: Tax receipts up, fiscal outlook still poor
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State Controller John Chiang said Monday tax collections outpaced expectations by $1.1 billion in September, but warned that the uptick is more likely a result of shifting tax laws and deadlines than an improving economy.
Chiang also said $8.3 billion in unpaid invoices piled up during the budget impasse – bills that are all now coming due – even though the state will have only $3.5 billion to pay the bills by the end of October. As a result, billions of dollars in welfare, school and community college payments are being deferred.
‘It’s difficult to celebrate a budget deal that does so little after so long,’ said Chiang. ‘The latest casualties of this historically late budget include the many schools, taxpayers and daycare providers whose payments will now be delayed so that long-suffering Californians who received nothing from the state for the past 100 days will finally get some financial relief.’
-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento