Rhode Island revenues are expected to fall $100 million below projections for the current fiscal year, state officials said last week.
Total general revenue in fiscal 2010 is projected to fall to $2.97 billion, a $455.4 million drop compared to the state’s peak in 2008. The biggest area of revenue decline is expected to be in personal income tax receipts, which are estimated to drop by 7.2%, or $69.4 million, compared to fiscal 2009, said Paul Dion, chief of analysis at the state Department of Revenue.
The estimates are preliminary and final estimates will be released next month.
Sales, cigarette, and business taxes have fallen, but lottery revenue is now expected to come in about $500,000 greater than expected in fiscal 2010, and taxes on public utilities and telecommunications are now expected to exceed projections as well, Dion said.
Personal income tax receipts in the first two months of fiscal 2010 fell to $129.8 million, an $8 million decline compared to the same period last year, according to a Revenue Department report on the August numbers.
Rhode Island had the third highest unemployment rate in the nation in August at 12.8%, behind only Michigan and Nevada, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Providence Mayor David Cicilline plans to submit legislation to the state General Assembly that would allow seven communities in the Providence area to consolidate public safety and public works services to save money, the Providence Journal reported last week.
