DENVER—Colorado lawmakers face another round of budget cuts because tax revenues are now expected to be down another $384 million for the new budget year.
Legislative economists announced today that there’s not enough revenue to cover the current budget year, which is set to end next week. With so little time left, the state will borrow money from next year’s budget to pay the rest of this year’s bills. That pushes the budget shortfall into next year for a total hole of $384 million.
Just as they did earlier this year, lawmakers and Gov. Bill Ritter could decide to raise fees or come up with one-time money in addition to making cuts to state services for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Ritter said state agencies would hold the line on spending, hiring and travel, but that more “tough choices” would have to be made. He declined to give specifics, saying he wanted to talk to state lawmakers who oversee the budget first.
The chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee, Sen. Moe Keller, said college tuition hikes, higher fees at state parks and cutting funding for kindergarten through 12th grade schools could be some of the options on the table.
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The forecast predicts that from the onset of the recession until the end of this fiscal year next week, state revenues will have fallen by a total of about $1 billion, a drop of nearly 14 percent.
