TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida state legislators may have less money to spend in the coming year than they were planning on.
State economists are meeting Tuesday to draw up new forecasts to predict how much the state will collect in taxes. The forecasts will be used by state legislators to draw up this year's budget.
Preliminary forecasts drawn up by the economists predict the state's main budget account will only grow slightly more than two percent during the fiscal year that ends in June. Those forecasts estimate growth of around 4 percent in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
If the forecasts hold, legislators could have about $400 million less to spend. Back in September economists predicted an overall budget surplus of $635 million.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to cut taxes by $1 billion.
