All eyes will be on the budget this year as state lawmakers gather in Boise next week, with a projected $1.6 billion surplus to fight over.
If that projection holds, or even if it’s off by half a billion dollars, it’ll still be the biggest surplus in Idaho’s history – which was set last year.
Tax collections are smashing through projections across nearly all categories.
The sales and individual income tax categories have continued to see strong growth in the first half of the year. They’re up by $24.8 million and $20.5 million respectively.
Altogether, tax revenue in Idaho is up $255.5 million from projections as of December, with the largest collection month – April – still to come.
As the Idaho Capital Sun reported last month, Gov. Brad Little hopes to put the money towards education, infrastructure and tax cuts.
Those priorities seem to align with legislators recently interviewed by the Capital Sun.
Lawmakers will get an updated economic forecast on Thursday before they all return to Boise next week.
Little will present his full budget plan during his state of the state address on Monday.
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