California State Reveune Data: February 2009

The California state controller's office has released the February 2009 revenue statement (pdf), and it's ugly once again:

Year-to-date collections for the three major taxes were $6.2 billion below (-11.4%) last year at this time. Retail sales were down $1.74 billion (-9.8%), corporate taxes fell by $952.7 million (-18.6%), and income taxes were $3.5 billion lower (-11%) than
last year’s total at the end of February.

After February's $1.4 billion shortfall, the FY2009 budget is running $5.5 billion short of FY2008:


In another ominous sign, this drop is almost a billion dollars worse than the Governor's latest revised FY2009 projections, upon which the latest budget overhaul was based:

The State’s revenues continued to deteriorate in February. Total General Fund receipts were down $973 million from the latest estimates found in the Governor’s January Budget proposal.

The current rate of revenue decline makes the latest budget revision inoperable before it can be enacted. Unless the economy revives, or the federal government provides more stimulus, California is looking as severe government cutbacks in the near future.