Comptroller Sean Scanlon Projects $181.5 Million Surplus
(HARTFORD, CT) – Comptroller Sean Scanlon today, in his monthly financial and economic update, projected a Fiscal Year 2024 General Fund surplus of $181.5 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $282.8 million, both in general agreement with the Office of Policy and Management’s (OPM) projections.
The reduction in revenues was primarily caused by an increase in the amount of revenue transferred out of fiscal year 2024 that will be accounted for and used in the next fiscal year.
Comptroller Scanlon currently projects that the state’s Budget Reserve Fund (also known as the Rainy Day Fund) will have a balance just over $4.6 billion. As this is 20.9% of net General Fund appropriations and therefore above the statutory 18% cap, a projected $600 million will be used to pay off the state’s pension debt later this fall.
“Just last week, we saw two renowned credit agencies—Fitch and Moody’s—increase Connecticut’s credit rating from ‘stable’ to ‘positive,’” said Scanlon. “This is big news. Both agencies directly cited Connecticut’s record Rainy Day Fund and increased pension contributions as reasons for continued improvement to our fiscal health. We’ve made significant progress getting our fiscal house in order, and it’s great to see investors are noticing.”
In a letter to Governor Ned Lamont, Scanlon noted that the national labor market continues to show signs of strength, and inflation fell last month, though it is still above the Federal Reserve’s goal to begin conversations about cutting interest rates. In Connecticut, the labor market added 1,100 jobs in April, and the state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent in the prior month.
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