Cash Report Through October

The state continues to take in more revenue this fiscal year than projected when the current-year budget was enacted. State controller Malia Cohen reports an excess of projected revenue of $5.7 billion, essentially coming from income taxes and corporate taxes. That outcome suggests the overage mainly reflects capital gains and corporate profits. Sales tax receipts are performing more or less on target, suggesting that the underlying economy is performing as anticipated.

The state's unused borrowable resources now total $97 billion, almost $6 billion ahead of projections, and veritable mountain of cash. So why the squeeze? Basically, the extra revenue is largely committed. Note that the voters approved more bonds whose debt service will be required in the future. And not all of that cash can be used legally to support the general fund beyond intrayear borrowing to deal with seasonality.

The latest cash report is at https://sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/October2024StatementofGeneralFundCashReceiptsandDisbursements.pdf.