Madison County Herald Editorial, 1/29/9
This week, I want to briefly explain what is going on with our budget so that you can understand the reasons behind the decisions the governor and the Legislature will be making this session.
When the legislature convenes each year, one of the main things we do is set the budget for the next year. Our state’s fiscal year runs from July 1- June 30. Therefore, our budget for the current fiscal year was set by the Legislature this time last year during the 2008 Legislative Session, and the current 2009 Legislative Session will be setting the budget for next year (2009-2010 fiscal year).
The budget is based on a projection of how much money we think we will have for the following year. This projection is based on expected revenues (how much money we think we are going to receive through sales taxes, income taxes, etc., during the next year). Obviously, no one can predict the future and that is why we should be very conservative in our projections. Under Gov. Haley Barbour, the Legislature has been very responsible with our projected revenues and has, for the most part, kept government spending under control.
Magnolia Tribune
