Controller Numbers Through April

As a background to the state budget situation, we now have the estimates of the state controller for cash receipts to the general fund for the fiscal year through April. April is typically a big month for receipts because income taxes are due in the middle of the month.

The numbers available through April indicate a continued issue of overestimating receipts, particularly the receipts from the personal income tax. 

The table below shows the overestimate relative to what was assumed in January 2024 when the governor made his initial budget proposal and last June when the current year's budget was enacted. 

As can be seen, much of the difference between the actuals and the estimates comes from the personal income tax.

The state still has a lot of cash on hand in various accounts, a total of $95.8 billion in unused borrowable resources. So it won't have a need to engage in external borrowing, as it has in prior budget crises.

Source: https://sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/April2024StatementofGeneralFundCashReceiptsandDisbursements.pdf.