Despite the seven tax proposals in Governor Bill Walker’s state fiscal plan, the proposed budget shows an approximately $427 million deficit for next year. That’s a significant difference than the half-billion dollar surplus he presented to Alaska last week.
Alaska budget director Pat Pitney says the fiscal summary released on December 9 had a mistake: it showed oil production tax revenue and royalties going into the general fund, which looked like revenue for state spending.
Pitney says that money will instead go into a reserve account.
She says Walker’s plan for a balanced budget is still a few years away since the proposal of a state income tax would not begin until January 2017.
The governor’s plan is complicated and involves draws from Alaska’s savings.
