DEVAL L. PATRICK

GOVERNOR

TIMOTHY P. MURRAY

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

BOSTON – Tuesday, January 8, 2008—Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie A. Kirwan, Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos, (D-Lowell) chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways & Means, and Representative Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop), chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, today issued the following statement regarding the Fiscal Year 2009 consensus revenue figure.

“Today, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Senate and House of Representatives reached accord on the consensus revenue figure for Fiscal Year 2009.  The joint tax revenue number agreed to by the Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means is $20.987 billion for Fiscal Year 2009.  The figure was arrived at after the parties received testimony at the consensus revenue hearing, at which participants provided information regarding Massachusetts’ economy and fiscal outlook.  Following the hearing, the Secretary and budget committee chairs worked together to produce a reasonable and informed forecast for next fiscal year’s revenues.”

Additionally, agreement was reached on the following off-budget transfers that are mandated by law:

• $768 million for the MBTA
• $702 million for the School Building Assistance (SBA)
• $1.465 billion for the pension transfer, which represents a $66 million increase over last year’s payment, but makes no changes to existing fiscal assumptions or pension funding schedule. 

The secretary and chairpersons agree that $18.052 billion will be the maximum amount of tax revenue available for the General Appropriations Act (GAA) in Fiscal Year 2009 and will base their respective budget recommendations on that number.

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