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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > April > 16 > Entry
Mary Taylor warns of huge budget deficit in the future
State Auditor Mary Taylor spent weeks crunching state budget numbers and came up with a hypothetical and scary number: $7.97 billion in red ink by June 2013.
Taylor, a certified public accountant, warned that the two-year state budget in the works right now is built on about $5 billion in one-time federal stimulus money and cash management maneuvers. When that money dries up and the demand for services marches on, Ohio’s budget will be facing a giant hole, she said.
Developing a state budget forecast is not a typical duty of the auditor. Taylor, who is the only Republican among the five statewide executive officeholders, sidestepped questions about whether this was politically motivated by saying her staff often helps local governments with forecasts and budgets.
“Quite frankly, it was to answer my question and what others have about where we’ll be in 2012 and 2013,” Taylor said.
Taylor used revenue projections provided by the Strickland administration and then assumed annual growth in Medicaid, education funding and other state expenses. She also assumes that programs that get federal stimulus money this year will continue to be funded by the state after the federal money is gone.
It’s unlikely that the state would see $8 billion in red ink by June 2013. The Ohio Constitution requires a balanced budget so state leaders would be required to make spending cuts before they ever got to the end of the two-year budget cycle.
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