California's Brown Offers $92.5B Budget to Trim $9.2B Deficit

SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $92.5 billion fiscal 2013 budget Thursday that tackles a projected deficit of $9.2 billion with taxes and cuts.

Brown said he plans to combat the deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1 through a tax measure he will put to voters in November and with $4.2 billion in general fund spending cuts.

The Department of Finance expects to end fiscal 2012 with a $4.1 billion deficit  — which is $1.9 billion worse than expected.

The governor hopes to raise $4.4 billion for the budget by temporarily raising income taxes on the wealthy and on sales through a statewide ballot measure. The budget will also include trigger cuts, as it did last year, in case voters shoot down the tax proposal.

“It is an honest budget, but it is not a fortune-telling budget,” Brown said during a press conference. “We don’t have clairvoyance at the Department of Finance.”

Even with the new tax revenues, Brown said he expects to make “painful” cuts that include nearly $1.5 billion to welfare, and if the tax measure fails, more cuts to schools, courts, universities and state public safety services.

The governor’s budget also assumes $1.4 billion in balancing measures through “other” additional revenues and fund shifts.

Brown said the state has reduced the structural deficit to $5 billion this year from $20 billion. The Department of Finance expects to reduce that to $4.7 billion by fiscal 2014.

Last year, California started the year with a $26.6 billion shortfall.

Finance director Ana Matasantos said during the press conference that the state expects a $2.5 billion spring bond sale and $5 billion in bond sales overall for fiscal 2013.

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