NASHVILLE – The “Grinch” was on full display this week as Tennessee State Funding Board members approved formal revenue growth projections for next year that will guide Gov.-elect Bill Lee as he fashions his first budget.
State Comptroller Justin Wilson, who is famously tight-fisted on projections, sported a “Grinch” tie as he and fellow funding board members adopted growth rates for general state revenue ranges of 2.71 percent to 3.21 percent for the 2019-2020 budget year that begins July 1.
In presentations made to the board last week, four economists and state officials had projected general fund revenue growth for next year from 2.7 percent to as high as 3.76 percent.
In this 2011 file photo, Comptroller Justin Wilson, left, attends a meeting of the State Funding Board in Nashville, Tenn.Instead, Wilson, state Treasurer David Lillard, Secretary of State Tre Hargett – all Republicans – as well as Larry Martin, state finance commissioner for outgoing-Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, held the top estimate line that Lee can use to build his budget to the 3.21 percent growth rate.
That would generate tens of millions of dollars less than the Revenue Department had projected revenue would grow.