State agencies may get some withheld money

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The state Council on Revenues' latest, healthier forecast may mean state departments will receive some of the money that was withheld earlier, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday.

But Lingle emphasized that her administration will remain cautious in its spending.

On Wednesday the council, whose projections form the base for state budgets drafted by the governor and lawmakers, revised its growth forecast for state tax revenues for fiscal 2004 to 6.2 percent. That forecast is up from the 5.2 percent growth projected in May.

Each percentage point represents about $30 million.

In June, Lingle announced a 20 percent restriction on non-fixed costs for all state agencies during the first three months of the fiscal year, which began July 1. She cited a projected $152 million shortfall.

Yesterday she said she will meet with state departments and "release ... their allotments from Oct. 1 through the rest of the year, and it will also likely mean some increase in the 80 percent that they received for the first quarter."

But Lingle said while the council's projections are encouraging, she has watched them change dramatically in the past.

"We don't want to go out and spend everything because these are only projections," she said. "This is not money we have in the bank — this is what we believe we will collect over the next two years. It's a long way out to be making these kinds of projections so we'll still remain prudent as we make these final allocations this year."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.