Oregons budget looks promising and expectations high for 2020
Portland taxpayers along with other Oregon residents will benefit from the state’s highly favorable 2020 economic forecast.
Higher-than-estimated estate and personal income tax collections have resulted in a recent quarterly revenue forecast of over $25 billion during the present budget biennium, which runs from July 2019 to June 2021. Included in the updated revenue forecast is an upward estimation of $183.4 million in lottery and general fund resources from predictions made in December 2019, which is almost $675 million over last June’s prediction.
This recent forecast is only the latest in a string of good news announcements that state economists have given to Oregon lawmakers. Every three months for some time budget predictions have shown a increasingly promising future for the state’s economy. In other euphoric, economic news, the “kicker” refund, which returns monies to taxpayers has grown from $1.6 to $1.7 billion.
This good news is tinged with the possibility of an economic downtown. Oregon, and Portland in particular, via Port Portland, could be adversely affected by the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak. Plus, as a result of fewer out-of-state transplants to the state, a slowing of job growth may well result in fewer new logo designs being added to the city’s business community as enterprises relocation here drops.
The updated revenue forecast comes at an opportune time, when the Legislature’s short session is pondering big-ticket expenditures such as affordable housing, homeless shelters and wildfire preparedness.
Higher-than-estimated estate and personal income tax collections have resulted in a recent quarterly revenue forecast of over $25 billion during the present budget biennium, which runs from July 2019 to June 2021. Included in the updated revenue forecast is an upward estimation of $183.4 million in lottery and general fund resources from predictions made in December 2019, which is almost $675 million over last June’s prediction.
This recent forecast is only the latest in a string of good news announcements that state economists have given to Oregon lawmakers. Every three months for some time budget predictions have shown a increasingly promising future for the state’s economy. In other euphoric, economic news, the “kicker” refund, which returns monies to taxpayers has grown from $1.6 to $1.7 billion.
This good news is tinged with the possibility of an economic downtown. Oregon, and Portland in particular, via Port Portland, could be adversely affected by the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak. Plus, as a result of fewer out-of-state transplants to the state, a slowing of job growth may well result in fewer new logo designs being added to the city’s business community as enterprises relocation here drops.
The updated revenue forecast comes at an opportune time, when the Legislature’s short session is pondering big-ticket expenditures such as affordable housing, homeless shelters and wildfire preparedness.