Washington State Budget Shortage

Do you have a budget for your personal/family expenses? Ever come up short? 😣

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Washington State is facing that situation now. Unlike the federal government, they can’t just wave a magic wand and manifest new money out of thin air (the feds can’t do this without consequence, but that’s another topic for another time). So, when it looks like there’s a shortfall coming, they have to pay attention. As should we, the taxpayers.

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Here are Five Fast Facts on Washington State’s potential budget shortage:

1. ‼️ Heads Up - The state puts out a quarterly forecast report, and the one from September painted the picture: there could be rough waters ahead!

2. 🤏 Projected Receipts - The state is predicted to generate around $66.5 billion in tax receipts for the next budget cycle, which goes until next June. It’s about $50 million less than official projections from midyear.

3. 📉 Projected Revenue - The last report showed revenues falling by about $477 million, meaning the combined total will be about $525 million less than the projection, which is what Gov. Inslee and the state legislature used to set their spending priorities.

4. 🗳️ Voter “Risk” - Another complication comes in the election, with the capital gains tax up for a vote by the people of the state. If that gets axed, it will be another few hundred million short. Chump change, right?

5. 📝 Up Next - The next budget for 2025-2027 is already in progress. Gov. Inslee will submit it to the legislature in December, and that will be the blueprint for the next budget once 2024 rolls around.

🔥Bottom line: Working past this potential shortfall shouldn’t be an insurmountable task. Compared to the total tax revenues, the shortfall is trifling. To put it into perspective, if you made $100,000, this is the equivalent of spending about $750 less for the year. It’s more instructive for the mindset of our elected leaders - do they try to scare up panic in order to force you to pay more of your tax dollars for their planned spending, or do they actually do the responsible thing and cut back?

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What do you think they’ll do?

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