By Maggie Angst | Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers may likely need to address a larger deficit next year than previously forecast due to an “increasing likelihood” that state tax revenue will be significantly below projections, according to the state Department of Finance.
The department projected that, because of an unprecedented six-month extension in the state’s tax filing deadline earlier this year, California would collect $42 billion in October. That figure represented nearly a quarter of this fiscal year’s total projected personal income tax and a third of the corporation tax.
But, as of Oct. 25, California collected just $18 billion, according to new disclosures from the agency. Should the revenue collected and tallied by the state in the coming weeks fail to catch up to its forecasts, Newsom and lawmakers will need to fill a wider budget gap than anticipated next year.
The 2023 Budget Act signed by Newsom in June projected a $14 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2024.
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