(Ga) Revenue slump worsens

"Higher cigarette taxes and hopeful predictions of a better economy did not keep Georgia's fiscal situation from worsening in July, as state revenue collections fell for the third consecutive month..."

..." Gov. Sonny Perdue's office on Monday told agencies to cut another 2.5 percent from their spending plans."

"Perdue's budget director, Tim Connell, has instructed agencies to identify 2.5 percent in cuts for this fiscal year and an additional 5 percent next year. Some agencies already have reduced their budgets 11 percent in the last two years, because of the slow economy's impact on tax collections"

More cuts? But the economy is picking up!

"The governor initially based the budget on a 6.4 percent rate of growth for the full fiscal year. However, because last fiscal year's collections were so poor, the Legislative Budget Office now believes that a growth rate of 7.5 percent will be needed to keep the 2004 budget in the black."

fat chance.

"We are taking a prudent course of action because we don't know how much further we have in the woods to go," Perdue said Thursday. "We know that we're headed out, but we just don't know exactly when that's going to occur."

Yeah, well, your boss has no clue either, punk.
I have never personally known so many people out of work. Some for 18 months.


edit: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0803/08revenue.html