Maryland fiscal leaders voted on Thursday to decrease revenue projections by $268.5 million for 2019 and 2020, a day before House appropriators are set to vote on a 2020 spending plan.
The decrease comes entirely from lower-than-anticipated income tax revenues, the result of economic uncertainty, changes in federal tax policy, and the state’s “familiar foe:” income volatility, especially among wealthiest taxpayers, Bureau of Revenue Estimates Director Andrew M. Schaufele said.
The state anticipates receiving about $138 million less in income tax revenue in the current fiscal year and about $130.5 million less in 2020, he said.
He stressed that the state’s economic outlook is good, as employment and wage growth numbers continue to go up.
“The current economic outlook is stable,” Schaufele said.
The $268.5 million write-down Thursday represents about 0.7 percent of total revenues, which is actually the average size of adjustments made each time the Board of Revenue Estimates convenes, Schaufele said.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Danielle E. Gaines over at Maryland Matters