Just a day after signing Florida’s $66 billion, fiscal 2009 budget into law last week, Gov. Charlie Crist ordered state agencies to hold back 4% of their budgets.
It was the second required cutback in spending in a year attributed to the state’s declining economy and lower-than-anticipated sales tax collections.
Florida is one of few states that doesn’t depend on property or personal income taxes to support its budget. The biggest revenue source is the sales tax, followed by a variety of other taxes and fees.
While the real estate downturn is one of the largest reasons for the state’s plunging economy, soaring gas and food prices now are affecting the state’s budgetary income as people cut down on their spending habits.
Crist first ordered state agencies to hold back 4% of their budgets a year ago in response to the declining revenues. Those hold-backs became permanent cuts.
