Georgia Revenue Down for April

Governor Sonny Perdue says revenue Numbers for April were down over the same month last year. The state took in $360 million less than in April of 08. In fact it’s a drop of more than 20 percent. But officials warn that the number don’t tell the whole story.

They warn that last April numbers were inflated due to an accounting shift and had increased by 34 percent. Year to date however state revenue is down by at least 9 percent.

Governor Perdue says he thinks revenue numbers have hit the low point and that Georgia should be on the way to recovery for May and June.

Officials say they have enough money in reserves to get the state through the fiscal year, which ends June 30^th. However, there’s worry that the state will begin the new fiscal year without any reserves.

Here is Perdue's officials revenue statement.

Governor Perdue Announces April Revenue Figures

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that net revenue collections for the month of April 2009 (FY09) totaled $1,399,047,000 compared to $1,761,180,000 for April 2008 (FY08), a decrease of $362,133,000 or 20.6 percent.

The percentage decrease year-to-date for FY09 compared to FY08 is 9.5 percent.

Revenue down in Georgia

Georgia's economy continues it’s decline. Governor Sonny Perdue reported today that state revenues were down in August by 7 percent from the same month last year. For the fiscal year that started July 1st, tax collections are down 6.8 percent. That translates to about $180 million.
Perdue has ordered state agencies to trim spending by 6 percent but also to come up with plans for even steeper cuts of 8 and 10 percent. Perdue says it's unclear if the state has hit the bottom of the economic downturn. And cuts deeper than 6 percent might be necessary. Most revenue streams are down sharply in Georgia including sales, income and corporate taxes.