Calendar Year Begins With Deficit Of $25 Million

New Hampshire is beginning the calendar year with a “$25 million dollar problem,” Legislative Budget Assistant Jeffry Pattison told legislative budget writers at a fiscal orientation on Monday.  Pattison says that in context, that’s a “$25 million dollar deficit on a $5.2 billion dollar budget,” which, he says, he thinks the state can manage.

Additionally, Pattison says, the deficit could change as pending budget uncertainties are resolved — such as $36.8 million in disputed Medical Enhancement Taxes which may yet be paid by certain hospitals, and other pending lawsuits.

Meanwhile, an expert on the fiscal cliff  told budget writers that spending cuts at the federal level could cost New Hampshire businesses and governments as much as $32 million this  fiscal year.

The briefings on fiscal year 2013 year will help prepare lawmakers as they set out to craft the biennial budget for fiscal years 2014-2015.