Process of projecting state revenues begins

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The process of predicting state revenues for the coming biennium begins Thursday with the meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee to the Nevada Economic Forum.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. in the Legislative building.

The Technical Advisory Committee, or TAC, is responsible for projecting what are referred to as the minor state revenue sources that feed into the general fund.

Defined as minor are all revenues except for the sales and use tax, gaming tax, gaming live entertainment tax, insurance premium tax, modified business tax, real estate transfer tax and cigarette tax.

The committee consists of the Senate and Assembly fiscal analysts, the budget director, the university system's vice chancellor for finance, the state demographer, chief economist for the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation and the head of the committee on local government finance.

Although described as minor, those revenue sources - including such things as the net proceeds of mines tax, secretary of state's business fees and short term car rental fees - produce significant amounts of money for the state.

One minor source, however, is expected to produce little if any revenue in the current economy - treasurer's interest income.

The TAC's preliminary projections for minor revenues are reported to the Economic Forum itself in November. In most years, the Forum has adopted those projections, relying on the TAC and the agency experts who manage those revenues to determine how much they will generate in the coming budget cycle.

But when the Forum meets in December, its members will take up all revenue sources and finalize projections, which must be used by both the executive and legislative branches in building the state's budget.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.