Special to Iredell Free News
RALEIGH — Economists in the Office of State Budget and Management and the N.C. General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division released an updated consensus revenue forecast Wednesday anticipating an additional $3.25 billion in state revenues for FY 2022-2023, putting total state General Fund revenue collections at $33.76 billion.
“These increased funds are needed desperately to pay our teachers more, fund our schools, provide quality child care for parents in our workforce and to pay for the tax cuts for working families that we put in place last year,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “I hope we can negotiate a bipartisan budget that makes these investments without more tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.”
The revised consensus forecast for FY 2022-2023 anticipates overcollections of $3.25 billion (10.7%) relative to certified revenues of $30.51 billion, putting total state General Fund revenue collections at $33.76 billion. The revised forecast anticipates a total of $67.35 billion for the next biennium, with $33.71 billion in FY 2023-2024 and $33.65 billion in FY 2024-25.
The primary drivers of the anticipated surplus are smaller-than-expected decline in individual income tax collections, especially due to larger-than-expected tax payments from pass-through businesses electing to be taxed at the entity level; persistently high corporate profits, particularly among large multi-national corporations; resilient consumer spending despite longer-lasting inflation in goods and services subject to sales tax; and higher-than-expected investment returns on the General Fund balance.
How about you give it back to the taxpayers?
Maybe if you can’t afford child care and work, you should not have children. Give the money back to taxpayers.
Government, the hungry beast, has taken so much from the taxpayers it can’t even swallow it all. Take away the plate!