INDIANAPOLIS — As Indiana reaches the halfway point of the current budget cycle, the state now has roughly $2.6 billion in reserves according to Indiana State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla —down from more than $6 billion in reserves just two years ago.
”We are an example of how to turn things around now sitting as the seventh lowest debt per capita state in the nation,” Nieshalla said.
According to the State Budget Agency, the state’s total general fund is now roughly $21.5 billion— just a tenth of a percentage point lower than what was estimated.
”It was up two percent compared to FY 2023, but within those buckets, those revenue streams, there was some unevenness by tax type to get to that,” Cris Johnston with the Office of Management and Budget said.
That unevenness according to the fiscal year report: the state’s sales and corporate tax revenue— coming in at a combined $270 million lower than expected.
”Corporate income tax missed its target by 16% or almost $180 million,” Johnston said. “Corporate income tax is the most difficult tax type to predict.”
This comes as the state continue to deal with a nearly billion dollar forecasting error. According to the State Budget Agency, the state paid an estimated $250 million to offset the shortfall in 2024, and is anticipated to spend roughly $457 million more dollars in 2025, although Johnston says that’s subject to change.
”This December’s forecast, they will take into consideration some of the actions that FSSA has taken and factor that into their forecast, so I would imagine that $457 [million]’s going to be a different number later this year,” Johnston said.
