North Carolina slides further into budget hole - Triangle Business Journal:

kleopatraxnibe.blogspot.com
billion, or 10 percent, through May, leaviny lawmakers with even a larger hole to fill in balancinhgthe state’s next budget by June 30. The tax collection for the first 11 monthw offiscal 2009, were released by the Nortn Carolina Controller’s Office, which keeps track of state government cash flow and other matters. Because of the tax collection drop, officialsd say, the unreserved balance in the state’ws general fund dropped to a negative $345 million as of May 31, as compared to a negativd $285 million at the end of April. In othef matters, all pending income tax refunds for the 2008 tax year had been paid as ofMay 31, says Controlle r David McCoy.
The state’zs investment earnings throughMay – interesrt earnings the state receives by investing temporarily idle cash in monehy market mutual funds – were down by $111 million, or nearly 50 percent. In releasing the numbers, McCoy’s office addedr that it is in consultatio n with the Office of Stated Budget and Management to implementmeasures “to ensure the state’ budget is balanced by June 30, 2009.
”