The first budget update of the fiscal year released on Friday forecasted that Connecticut’s general and special transportation funds would end the year in balance or with slightly better than anticipated surpluses.
In a monthly update to the state comptroller, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Jeffrey Beckham reported that his office expects the state General Fund to close out the just-begun fiscal year with a $299 million balance. The number puts the state on track to meet expectations anticipated in the budget adjustment package adopted this year, despite fluctuations in both revenues and expenditures.
“It is important to note that this represents the first projection of the state’s budget outlook for FY 2023,” Beckham wrote in the letter to Comptroller Natalie Braswell. “As the year progresses, these estimates will undoubtedly be revised to reflect the impact of changes in the economy, expenditure patterns, and/or other factors.”
Meanwhile, the new update expects the state’s Rainy Day Fund to close out the 2023 fiscal year with $5.46 billion, resulting in additional funds being used to pay down the state’s unfunded state employee and teacher pension liabilities.
The budgetary office also reported that the state likely ended the last fiscal year with a surplus of $1.3 billion, an increase of $50.4 million over previous estimates in July.
The August update also expects the state’s Special Transportation Fund to end the 2023 fiscal year with an operating balance of $267 million, a slight improvement over the $265 million expected under the budget adjustment package.
