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Fiscal ‘storm clouds’ growing over Massachusetts after lower than expected tax collections
Massachusetts is not “raining money” anymore, state lawmakers said Tuesday.
The top Senate budget writer and the chamber’s ranking Republican painted a less than ideal fiscal picture for Massachusetts, airing during a debate concerns they had for the future health of the state’s finances after multiple months of lower than expected tax collections.
Massachusetts has experienced four consecutive months of below benchmark revenue collections during the start of fiscal year 2024, said Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat. That follows years of “very robust revenue collections,” he said.
“Even though there are storm clouds on the horizon, it’s not bright and sunny, it’s not raining money as it has been over the last few years, we are still being responsible in addressing the long-term liabilities of the commonwealth,” Rodrigues said.
The first two months of the fiscal year, July and August, saw revenue collections collectively $20 million below benchmark, Rodrigues said, a number that “really didn’t raise any concerns in a $56 billion budget.”
Those numbers, he said, “are just rounding errors” and the two months are typically small for revenue collections.
September brought “a big month” with quarterly payments due, he said. But collections came in about $170 million below benchmark, according to the Department of Revenue.
“That did begin to raise eyebrows,” Rodrigues said as the Senate debated a $2.8 billion supplemental budget that closes the books on fiscal year 2023 and shuttles hundreds of millions to the Healey administration to deal with an overburdened shelter system.
October did not bring any better news, with revenue collections down by about $180 million, Rodrigues said.
“For the first time in my tenure as chair of Ways and Means, which is approaching five years, I’ve seen four consecutive months of below benchmark revenue collections,” Rodrigues said.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said he appreciated Rodrigues’ “candor” in describing the state’s fiscal situation.
“(It is) certainly not one that is cause for panic, but one that is cause for concern,” he said. “I appreciate his approach to fiscal discipline that has allowed us to remain in a steady position as we see potential storm clouds gathering around us with regard to the financial stability of the commonwealth.”