The structure of Louisiana's tax code results in lower state revenue collections whenever federal taxes go up, the state's top economists said last week.
Jim Richardson, an economics professor at Louisiana State University, and Greg Albrecht, chief economist for the Legislative Fiscal Office, told the Press Club of Baton Rouge that looming federal tax hikes could make Louisiana's financial situation even worse.
A higher federal tax on single earners making more than $200,000 and couple with income of more than $250,000 could cut state revenue collections by at least $124 million a year beginning in spring 2014, Albrecht said.
"We are going to have another budget issue over collections," said Richardson, who is a member of the official Revenue Estimating Conference. "That is what we have to worry about."
