April 23, 2008

Tax Cash Increases… But Enough?

It looks like the flow of moneycoming in to state coffers has picked up as personal income tax returns are processed, but there’s still a long ways to go.

As mentioned last week, Controller John Chiang has a new page on his website where you can see (with a time lag) the tax revenues come in each day in April. You may have mailed your check on time, but it takes a while for all of that cash to be processed.

New data shows Monday was the biggest day so far in April, with almost a net of $1.6 billion in tax dollars (that’s the amount after refunds). That brings the total for the fiscal year up to almost $40 billion.

But the burning question is: will this be enough? Governor Schwarzenegger’s current budget plan predicts that total will be $45.3 billion by the end of the month. That means the state still has a way to go as all of those remaining envelopes are opened at the Franchise Tax Board.