Commentary; Posted: 1/3/07
State budget surplus? Idea is misleading
Rafts of state surplus dollars may have drifted into mind on the release of the November budget forecast -- a balmy $2 billion budget surplus being projected.
But spoiling this otherwise enticing vision was the gentle hiss of something deflating.
True, the grim budgetary news of past forecasts was thankfully absent.
But one of the remarkable things about the current projected budget surplus is the general air of hesitancy -- of almost false hope -- many lawmakers express when talking about it.
It almost seems the surplus is less money than mirage. And that's not true.
But in a sense, it's not entirely false.
In a wise monetary move or in a rapturous moment of political expediency, lawmakers not long ago removed the inflation factor when calculating state spending.
Were this fiscal antic included in the budget equations, about one-half of the projected budget surplus would disappear.
A lot of the remaining projected surplus is one-time money, dollars that can be used in many useful ways but also dollars that can't be counted on long-term.
All this means that when lawmakers return to the Capitol this week (the session opened on Jan. 3), they will have extra money to toss around but a finite amount.
And there's chasms of perceived need.
It's estimated that state transportation system alone requires an infusion of more than $1 billion a year for 10 years to catch up.
Educators, in fleshing out their hopes, talk in terms of billions of dollars for education. And cries for property tax relief echo through the Capitol.
Minnesotans who view the projected state budget surplus as balming all needs are mistaken. Funding demands far exceed money in hand.
Lawmakers know this.
Voters should, too.
Along with the hissing should be more than a few sighs. -- An opinion from the ECM Editorial Board. The Forest Lake Times is part of ECM Publishers, Inc.
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