A big, fat N-O from Lt. Governor Matt Michels on using reserve funds to help cover South Dakota’s estimated $58 million budget shortfalls.
The state is suffering shortfalls because of drops in tax revenues, especially sales taxes due to the growing impact of online sales, where taxes are often not collected.
Standing in for Governor Dennis Daugaard at the weekly press conference during the legislative session in Pierre, Michels warned that dipping into reserves would jeopardize South Dakota’s Triple-A credit ratings. State government gets the best interest rates because of those top ratings. Michels said that if the ratings get lowered, it could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in higher interest payments.
The numbers crunchers in Pierre, in the remaining days of the 2017 legislative session, have to make up shortfalls in the current fiscal budget, and in the budget to come. The federal government can deficit spend, but South Dakota doesn’t have that luxury. It must come up with a balanced state budget.
(KELO)