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JLBC options include shifting burden to property owners
Legislative budget analysts gave lawmakers a list of options they can use to erase billions of dollars of red ink this year. The solutions range from the elimination of some government services to sharply increasing property taxes.
Arizona said to be on track for financing
Arizona is on track to complete a big financing deal needed so the cash-short state government can pay its bills during February, officials said Jan. 6. The Department of Administration said it plans to complete approximately $735 million of sale-leaseback financing for prisons, legislative buildings and other state properties this month.
Federal healthcare plan to cost Arizona $542M per year
The U.S. Senate healthcare bill is expected to provide medical coverage for as many as 1 million uninsured Arizonans, but it would leave the state scrambling to come up with an estimated $3.8 billion to pay for it.
New budget solution: Deal with it next year
This year's budget problems might just become next year's nightmare. Lawmakers hacked $650 million from the state's deficit during the final two months of 2009, but the shortfall still tops $1.4 billion.
140 firefighters, officers in Tucson face layoffs
TUCSON - More than 140 firefighters and police officers in Tucson could be laid off next month as part of $32 million in cuts proposed to close the city's budget deficit this year.
ADOT pledges to plow roads during storm
Despite a $100 million deficit, the Arizona Department of Transportation vows to keep roads in northern Arizona plowed and safe during a winter storm that is expected to hit Arizona this week. ADOT road crews plan to be out in force plowing at the same pace as last year.
Special session kicks off, but most work slated for Thursday
Lawmakers officially kicked off the fourth special session of the year - the second devoted to the fiscal 2010 budget - with an uneventful gathering at the state Capitol on Nov. 17. The work on taking a small bite out of the state's $2 billion budget deficit will take place on Nov. 19, when House and Senate budget committees are expected to meet.
Brewer: Long-term solution to Arizona’s economic woes depends on jobs
While a temporary sales tax increase would help address Arizona's budget crisis, a long-term solution will depend on attracting firms that offer high-paying jobs, Gov. Jan Brewer told business leaders Nov. 4. "Our future pivots on our ability to create jobs, better jobs, permanent jobs and more of them," Brewer said at a Greater Phoenix Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Wishful thinking interrupted by budget reality
JLBC has singled out three budget provisions that wouldn't live up to their billing: a plan to save $50 million due to reduced fraud in the health care system; deals to privatize nine of the 10 state prisons; and a plan to raise $735 million by selling dozens of state buildings, then leasing them back. But there's more.
Budget gap grows as result of ‘unrealized savings’
Legislative budget analysts said last week that $165 million of the state budget deficit is due to "potential unrealized budget savings" that were assumed as part of the spending plan, which was designed to bridge a $3 billion shortfall. In short, several savings measures won't work as planned.
Budget deficit now estimated at $2 billion
Legislative budget analysts said tax collections in the first quarter of the fiscal year have been so sluggish that they have revised revenue projections downward. Now, the deficit for fiscal 2010 is $2 billion. In order for the state to collect the $7.1 billion it anticipated this year, revenues would have to grow by nearly 1 percent from the prior year. However, collections are down 16 percen[...]
Wanted: new revenue
Lawmakers will be facing quite the conundrum in 2010 - how to raise more revenue for the cash-strapped state without raising taxes. The Republican-led Legislature stymied attempts by Gov. Jan Brewer to put a sales tax increase on the ballot, and outright rejected the idea of passing a tax increase itself.
