Teetering on Razor’s Edge

Revenues for the first five months of fiscal 2011-12 are $3.3 billion higher than last year, but remain $75.5 million below projections for an updated financial plan that’s operating on a “razor-thin margin,” according to New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s cash report for August.

The state’s general fund ended August with a balance of $1.6 billion, $700,000 lower than projected in the financial plan that was updated Aug. 2.

Receipts, including transfers, increased $3.1 billion over last year, primarily because of higher personal income tax (PIT) collections in April and $500 million in delayed refunds that lowered last year’s revenue.

“We should be prepared for the possibility that revenue growth may falter, requiring downward adjustments to the financial plan,” DiNapoli said in a statement.

The PIT collections ended the month $45.2 million lower than the latest projections.

Spending, including transfers, increased $1.2 billion, or 5.5%, from the same period last year and came in $77.4 million below projections, primarily because of local assistance and transfers to other funds.

Moody’s Investors Service rates New York’s general obligation bonds Aa2. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s rate them AA.

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