Government Spending About To Catch Up With Personal Income In North Dakota
This isn’t good:
General fund spending as a percentage of personal income paints an even uglier picture:
What does this tell us? First, that general fund spending is on pace to have grown 50% over the last four years. Second, that government spending in North Dakota is on pace to grow four times faster than personal income.
That is not responsible budgeting.
Granted, this data (see the full report here) is based on the 15.4% decline in state personal income that the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis has projected, and while that projection may not come true, isn’t it prudent to budget for the worst case scenario? Especially given the uncertain economic times we’re in right now? And also because other projections are indicating a plunge in oil tax revenue as well as decreases in sales and income tax revenues?
I’m afraid that we’re going to come out of this legislative session with yet another massive increase in government spending, and very little in the way of tax relief, and that we’re ultimately going to pay a heavy toll for it. We should be promoting pro-growth policies, meaning less spending and more tax relief, instead of spending everything in site.
North Dakotans voted against the income tax cuts put on the last ballot by initiated measure. They may soon find out that, because our political leaders can’t be trusted to budget responsibly and pass tax cuts on their own, our taxes will go up as tax revenues are unable to keep up with state spending. Tags: Domestic Issues, North Dakota News, Politics
