Michigan may have surpassed revenue expectations for the last fiscal year by over $925 million dollars.
The numbers come from the Senate Fiscal Agency as part of planning for this week’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference.
That’s a moment when state officials give their first official take on how much money will be available for the next budget.
Bob Schneider is with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. He said early guesses at revenue for the current fiscal year are promising.
“If you're a university, if you are a corrections officer, if you're interested in the Medicaid program, all of a sudden, we have room to do new things in those in those areas. If that's the priority of policymakers,” Schneider said.
Fiscal year 2024 ended in October, but the numbers don’t become final until the state Legislature officially closes the books on it with some final accounting moves.
In all, the Senate Fiscal Agency predicts the state to end it with a total of $32.7 billion in revenue, split between the general fund and School Aid Fund.
As far as fiscal year 2025 projections, the agency is predicting around $33.6 billion in revenue. The House Fiscal Agency and Department of Treasury haven’t come out with their projections yet.
This year, lawmakers will have to contend with divided government while writing the state’s next budget.
Schneider said having more money to work with could help that run smoother, even with Republicans controlling the House while Democrats have the Senate majority.
“It means there’d be more room to come do the type of compromise that's going to be needed this time, this coming year with divided Legislature. You know, they're going to need to come to a compromise on the budget. And I think when you have more resources, that gets a little easier,” Schneider said.
The first budget proposals usually come out in February.
