For the third time in four months, the state has fallen short of bringing in the revenues that were projected.
Income tax revenue missed projections by more than 27 percent last month. At a forum in Columbus last week, state budget director Tim Keen said underspending, especially in Medicaid, is saving officials from having to make big cuts.
“A lot of other states are having the same challenges we are with revenues, although in fact many of them have had to actually mid-year budget adjustments, which we have avoided.”
Keen said his office is forecasting sluggish economic growth of about 2 percent. But overall tax receipts right now are off nearly 3 percent. This comes as lawmakers are developing their version of the next two-year budget.
