Governor Perdue Cuts Revenue Estimates

Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that net revenue collections for the month of February 2008 (FY08) totaled $965,846,000 compared to $961,225,000 for February 2007 (FY07), an increase of only 0.5 percent. The percentage increase year-to-date for FY08 compared to FY07 is 1.9 percent.

Governor Perdue met with the leadership of both the House and Senate to discuss the revenue figures and his revised budget recommendations this morning.

For FY08, Governor Perdue is reducing the revenue estimate by $65 million from his original proposal. The original AFY08 recommendation was $332.6 million. In order to achieve a balanced budget, Governor Perdue identified an equivalent amount of spending to eliminate from his AFY08 recommendation. The reductions recommended include $40 million originally allocated for one-time equipment and technology infrastructure upgrades and $25 million in funding for school buses.

“All of these programs are worthy of funding and provide good value to the citizens, but we have to make difficult decisions on how to spend our limited resources,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “I have proposed reducing funding across state agencies, even reducing programs that I have championed, because everyone and every program must share our collective burden.”

The Governor has made recomendations to cut the proposed 150 ICWP slots and the MRWP services in the FY09 budget.

The impact of the Governor's cut in revenue projections is yet to be fully understood. It will depend even more so on your advocacy for Unlocking Georgia's waiting lists for supports for people with disabilities is as important as ever.

For FY09, Governor Perdue reduced the revenue estimate by $245 million. The original FY09 recommendation was $21.425 billion. The equivalent reduction in spending recommended by Governor Perdue would be derived from programs across state agencies.

Other spending reductions Governor Perdue recommended are:

• Eliminating $16.9 million for funding the Governor’s Health Insurance Partnership.


• Reducing $47.2 million in Major Repairs and Renovations (MRR) for the University System of Georgia and the Department of Technical and Adult Education. These projects would instead be funded through a bond package.


• Reducing the proposed raise for state employees, teachers and faculty at the Board of Regents and the Department of Technical and Adult Education from 2.5 percent to 2 percent. This would save $46.1 million.


• Reducing $44.1 million in additional funds into the Other Post Employee Benefits (OPEB) fund.


• Reducing $5.5 million in the Governor’s Very Important Parent (VIP) Recruiter Program from the original $14 million proposal.

In addition to the recommended reductions, Governor Perdue has asked agency heads to maximize savings by avoiding unnecessary travel, restricting hiring for non-critical positions and any other reductions identified by agencies. The Governor is also encouraging each agency head to enact strict approval processes for new expenditures, and has asked the Office of Planning & Budget to closely monitor budgets. These limitations on discretionary spending are intended to mitigate the potential impact of reductions in revenue collections for Fiscal Year 2008.