Budget Director Says Price, Wage Declines Led To Nearly Billion-Dollar Miss In Budget Forecast

The state budget director took a lot of heat for tax collections that came in nearly a billion dollars below his projections.  That office is trying to make sure it doesn’t miss with its forecast for the new budget. But as he noteson "The State of Ohio" this weekend, there are still a lot of economic uncertainties to deal with.  Budget director Tim Keen said prices were down in the fiscal year that just ended, so that’s partly why tax collections were down. And he noted weekly wages fell in the last part of 2016 too. “And when weekly wages fall, it should not be surprising that income tax withholdings that are taken out of weekly wages also fell,” Keen said.Keen has revised down growth estimates in the new budget by 1%, and said while his boss Gov. John Kasich is concerned, Ohio is still growing jobs. But the progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio said job growth for this year through May puts the state on track for job growth that’s slower than last year, which the worst year for job growth since the recession ended in 2009. Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.