New Hampshire’s budget gap for this year is widening as revenues continue to slide.
Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon said yesterday that revenues in January were $18 million below estimates. She said she is now projecting revenues will be between $275-300 million below estimates for the year.
Previous estimates were for a $250 million shortfall. Governor John Lynch and lawmakers have been making budget adjustments to deal with declining revenues, but have not closed the gap between revenues and spending. Hodgdon said the remaining gap could be between $100 and $150 million.
There were almost no bright spots in January. Taxes on business and property sales were off almost $10 million.