Iowa lawmakers are facing a nearly 100-million-dollar shortfall in the current budget year as they prepare to convene the 2017 session. A state panel projected the state will take in about $7.21 billion during the budget year that began in July. That’s down from a $7.31 billion projection in October. Iowa Department of Management Director David Roederer isn’t sure how the state will plug the deficit.
Roederer is one of the three members on the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference (REC), which lowered Iowa’s revenue projections.
The R-E-C also lowered its estimate for the NEXT fiscal year by over 60 million dollars. Budget experts say the Iowa economy is growing, but weakness in the farm sector continues to push tax receipts down.
