State Economists Make No Changes To Revenue Forecast

Last  week, the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) made no changes to the General Fund revenue forecasts for FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 which were last updated in November 2023. The BEA noted that while tax collections (including sales, corporate income, and individual income taxes) are running ahead of projected levels they are not doing so at rates high enough to warrant revenue forecast revisions. As a result, the BEA “…determined that a cautious approach was warranted in waiting to have more information…” before making any changes to the FY2023-24 or FY2024-25 revenue forecasts.

For FY2023-24, the BEA estimates General Fund revenues of $12.89 billion, leaving state budget writers with a one-time surplus of $448.1 million. Combined with the prior year’s surplus and the FY2023-24 Capital Reserve Fund, lawmakers will have $896.1 million in one-time funds available to appropriate for non-recurring purposes. For FY2024-25, the BEA estimates General Fund revenues of $13.21 billion, meaning that budget writers will likely have $673.1 million in new recurring revenues to appropriate during this year’s budget process. More information on the BEA’s forecast can be found here.

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