Recommendations cut nearly $16 million from minor revenues

The Technical Advisory Committee to the Economic Forum voted Monday to reduce projections for Nevada's "minor" General Fund revenues by $15.8 million over the next biennium.

That is 2.9 percent less than the projections for those same revenue sources adopted in December.

The minor revenues are all of the state revenues outside the sales, gaming, modified business, insurance, real estate and the live entertainment tax as well as levies on cigarettes and liquor.

The minor revenues include licenses, fees and fines and miscellaneous revenues which, in the December forecasts, totaled $537.9 million over the biennium.

The largest reduction was to the state's projected interest income. According to the treasurer's office, that revenue is projected to fall $5.26 million below the $19.5 million December projection.

Total projected revenues for fees and fines was reduced $6.1 million for the coming biennium in the recommendations approved Monday.

Half that total is in the $3.44 million reduction in expected short term car lease collections.

The projections for license revenues was cut by just under $4 million " a dip of near 7 percent for 2010 and 10.2 percent in 2011.

Altogether, that cuts the total revenues expected from the "minor" revenues to $522.1 million for the coming biennium " a 2.7 percent reduction for 2010 and 3.4 less for 2011.

The Technical Advisory Committee is composed of fiscal professionals in state service and is designed to streamline the handling of projections for those revenue sources so that the Economic Forum can concentrate on the major revenues such as the sales tax which comprise the vast majority of Nevada General Fund collections.

The forum is a five member panel of fiscal professionals appointed by the governor and legislative leadership to project revenues for the coming budget cycle. Their projections, which they will set Friday, must be used to develop the budget.

Experts are predicting they will reduce revenue projections for the coming two year cycle by $450 million or more at that meeting, further exacerbating the state's budget shortfall.