Bacon's Rebellion

Pamela Currey


 
 

Notes from Pamela Currey, deputy secretary of finance, accompanying Virginia state budget figures.

I have separated the general funds and non-general funds because they are so different -- general funds come from the general taxes and revenues of the Commonwealth. Non-general funds come from very specific and generally dedicated sources such as Higher Education tuition and fees, federal funds for highways and Medicaid and such, unemployment trust fund monies, the collection of support payments for children, and the like. The analysis that you did in your prior article combined those two funds, and I don't really think that is the way I would look at it. We don't control how much we get from the unemployment trust fund, and I doubt that anyone would argue that the almost 30 percent increase in those funds should be defined as "bloat in state government" nor would one suggest that it is a bad thing that our collections from non-custodial parents ... have increased almost 65 percent during this time period. Those funds are collected and then go directly for the benefit of individual Virginia citizens.

So, take a look at these two spreadsheets. On the general fund side, in particular, you might be interested to see the extremely low growth (actually the decline in one year) in appropriations -- -2.2 percent, 0.8 percent, 1.3 percent. These are the years that we are talking about when we discuss the actions that had to be taken to meet the budget shortfall. I know that you already have heard the statistics that go with these numbers, but consider the following:

General fund revenue for FY 2004 is 10.5 percent higher than general fund revenue for FY 2000. Over the same period, however, demands for those funding have increased dramatically. For example, there are:

  • 47,400 more children enrolled in public schools;
  • more than 7,500 more children in Special Education;
  • 5,367 more state-responsible inmates;
  • 17,550 more Virginians enrolled in state colleges;
  • 39,086 more children enrolled in the state-federal child health insurance programs;
  • 62,106 more Medicaid recipients;
  • $522.6 million more in car tax reimbursement payments by the state.

Editor's note: I have produced Currey's comments verbatim except for changes in punctuation and in one instance where she asked to stay off the record.

-- April 12, 2004

 

 

 

General Fund Budget, Fiscal 2000 to Fiscal 2004

 

Non General Fund Budget, Fiscal 2000 to Fiscal 2004

 

 

 

Piercing the Veil

Bacon Scrutinizes the Warner Administration's Case for Tax Hikes

 

Paper Cuts. The politicians in Richmond still cite the "$6 billion shortfall" in the last budget to justify raising taxes for the next. But their spending "cuts" barely went skin deep. (March 1, 2004)

 

Bacon Chided but Unrepentant (March 15, 2004)

 

What’s a “Budget Shortfall? Gov. Warner has cited the existence of a “$6 Billion Budget Shortfall” as justification for higher taxes. Just what is a “budget shortfall"? Your intrepid correspondent digs for answers. (March 29, 2004)

 

The Numbers Are In! Here are the official statistics -- straight from the Warner administration -- documenting how the state budget has increased in the face of a "$6 billion budget shortfall." (April 12, 2004)