CHICAGO — Iowa expects to collect nearly $300 million more in revenue during the current fiscal year than previously anticipated and projects a 3.3% increase in revenues in fiscal 2011, its revenue estimating committee announced Monday.
The state now expects to close the fiscal year June 30 with 2.2% more in revenue than it previously estimated. Personal income tax receipts are now projected to grow by 3.6% in the current budget, up from a previous estimate in negative territory. The state is operating on a $5.28 billion fiscal 2011 budget.
Gov. Chet Culver, who faces Republican challenger Terry Branstad in the November governor’s race, said the latest projections signal a sustained economic recovery is underway in the state and that job creation should follow.
“I have been committed to keeping our fiscal house in order, creating good jobs for Iowans, and continuing our sound fiscal management,” Culver said. “That approach has prepared us for tough times, and today’s report demonstrates that.”
Iowa’s unemployment rate last month was 6.8%, compared to the national rate of 9.6%. The estimating committee meets again in December to set revised revenue projections that will be used to form the governor’s fiscal 2012 budget.
The state has weathered the recession better than many of its Midwestern counterparts as it closed the last fiscal year with $755 million in various reserve accounts, but it still faces a deficit of at least $500 million in the next fiscal year, according to legislative figures.
Iowa has roughly $770 million of rated debt that either carries its moral obligation or appropriation pledge. The state does not carry direct general obligation debt but it is assigned top issuer credit marks from Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.
