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Comptroller Kevin Lembo Archive > News
COMPTROLLER LEMBO REPORTS IMPROVEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 OUTLOOKMonday, April 1, 2013
Comptroller Kevin Lembo today announced that an improvement in revenue is shrinking the projected deficit and improving the outlook for the end of Fiscal Year 2013.
In a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lembo said he is currently projecting a $91.3-million deficit for the end of the fiscal year - a $40-million improvement over his projection last month - and said it's possible the deficit could be eliminated entirely.
Lembo said the reduced deficit projection is almost entirely driven by revenue and primarily attributable to a $30-million gain in the inheritance tax. Unanticipated increases in Medicaid caseload numbers throughout the year have produced most of the spending in excess of original budget projections.
"It should be noted that both the actual expenditure growth trend through February, and the OPM (Office of Policy and Management) spending target, represent historically low rates of General Fund spending growth," Lembo said. "This low growth in spending has also helped to mitigate the Fiscal Year 2013 deficit.
"Connecticut's economy is showing signs of a moderate, but steady, recovery," Lembo said.
Lembo highlighted a point of interest to monitor going forward with respect to young adults, particularly those under 35. According to a recent Pew Research Center report and available government data, young adult U.S. households are carrying lower debt (mortgage loans, credit cards, auto loans, student loans and other consumer borrowing) - despite ballooning student loans. Fewer young adults are carrying credit-card balances and 22 percent didn't have any debt at all in 2010 - the most since government tracking began in 1983, according to these reports