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Senate Appropriations Committee Report(all tables and graphics can be viewed online) October Surprise: General Fund Revenue Over-performsGeneral Fund revenue collections for the month of October exceeded the estimate by $119.7 million. General Fund tax revenues were $86.3 million higher than the monthly estimate. Non-tax revenue was $33.4 million above the estimate. General Fund revenue collections for the first four months of the fiscal year are $164.2 million ahead of estimate. The $164.2 million year-to-date revenue surplus is attributable to a tax revenue surplus of $91.7 million and a non-tax revenue surplus of $72.5 million, all of which consists of over-performing unclaimed property revenue collections (Treasury escheats). Throughout the fiscal year, the Treasury Department receives unclaimed property and deposits it as revenue into the General Fund, and the department also pays out refund claims on such property. Often, the revenue deposits and refund claims are out of sync in the monthly revenue estimates, but they tend to balance out over the course of the year. Therefore, the $72.5 million non-tax revenue surplus may not be as reliable as the $91.7 million tax revenue surplus over the remainder of the fiscal year. October 2019 General Fund Revenue vs. Monthly Estimate:
Fiscal Year 2019-20 vs. the Official Revenue Estimate To-Date:
Fiscal Year 2019-20 vs. Fiscal Year 2018-19:
Motor License Fund:
Election Code Changes, Nonprofit Security Grants Add to General Fund SpendingOn October 31, 2019, Governor Wolf signed into law Senate Bill 421 (Act 77 of 2019), which makes sweeping changes to modernize Pennsylvania’s Election Code. Among other changes, Act 77 authorizes the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PEDFA) to issue bonds for up to $90 million over ten years to provide funding for counties to replace voting systems. In the event that PEDFA issues $90 million in bonds, debt service on a 10-year bond at a 4% interest rate would be roughly $11.1 million per year. These debt service costs would be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly and are expected to begin in fiscal year 2020-21. In addition, Act 77 of 2019 also allows the Department of State to utilize up to $4 million for the communication, administration and assistance within each county of the Commonwealth for the purposes of ensuring a complete and accurate census count of the Commonwealth in the 2020 Federal decennial census. The $4 million consists of funds not expended, encumbered or committed from General Fund appropriations for any fiscal year ending before July 1, 2020, from any agency that falls under the Governor’s jurisdiction. House Bill 859, which was presented to the Governor on October 29, 2019, adds a new Chapter 56 to Title 35 (Health and Safety) that establishes the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund as special fund in the State Treasury with the grant program to be administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). PCCD is authorized to provide grants to nonprofit organizations exclusively for security enhancements to facilities owned and operated by a nonprofit organization. The program directs the Secretary of the Budget to transfer $5 million in prior year unexpended, unencumbered funds originally appropriated from the General Fund to any executive agency under the Governor’s jurisdiction. The secretary may only make the transfer if the funds will not create a deficit in any of the appropriations from which the funds are transferred and must notify the Senate and House Appropriations Committees in writing of the transfers. The legislation also provides that the General Assembly may appropriate money for the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund beginning in FY 2020-21. Any unexpended and unencumbered funds remaining in the fund shall lapse and be transferred back to the General Fund as of July 1, 2024. |
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