News Releases for January 2002
January 7, 2002
For further information, please Contact the Governor's Office
State Revises Revenue Surplus Projection
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today announced that North Dakota’s current revenues are tracking on projection. To be prudent, however, the state is reducing its forecast for the ending-fund balance from $21.5 million to $6.7 million.
After the last legislative session, Hoeven said, the state had planned to do a year-end revenue forecast with Economy.com, the state’s economic consulting firm, because the national economy had already begun to slow down.
“Despite a national recession, the most recent figures show that we’re doing pretty well, relative to the rest of the nation,” according to Hoeven. “We’ve done a number of things in North Dakota that should enable us to hit our budget.”
Hoeven highlighted four reasons that the state is in good shape, despite the national downturn:
- We’ve worked hard to diversify the state’s economy, so that the economy doesn’t depend on any one sector.
- We’ve worked to reduce unemployment. The state’s current unemployment rate is about half the national average.
- We’ve worked to increase personal income and wages. North Dakotans’ personal income grew at about 5.5 percent last quarter, compared to a national rate of 3.5 percent. Similarly, North Dakotans’ wages and salaries grew at 4.7 percent, compared to 3.6 percent nationally.
- North Dakota’s economy tends to be countercyclical, meaning that the state’s economy doesn’t generally grow in tandem with the rest of the country, and it also means we aren’t as hard hit when the economy slows down.
At least thirty-six states will suffer an average budget shortfall in revenues of $1 billion, according to a recent report by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. The National Conference of State Legislators expects only six states, including North Dakota, to be on target with spending and revenues, Hoeven said.
“Given the national recession, and the fact that so many states are facing shortfalls, we are reducing the current forecast going forward by $15 million based on Economy.com’s data,” Hoeven said. “That still leaves us with a projected surplus of $6.7 million due to the good, conservative budgeting we did in the Legislature.”
In addition to the $6.7 million surplus, the state also has a $25 million reserve with the bank of North Dakota and $11.4 million with the Foundation Aid Stabilization Fund to help the state weather a national recession. As precaution, Hoeven said he will also ask all state agencies to seek out new opportunities for budget savings.
- State Revenues as of 11-30-01
(33kb pdf) - Unemployment Rate Trend (36kb pdf)
- Comparison of Forecast (34kb pdf)
- General Fund Status Statement (41kb pdf)
- Percent Change from 4th Quarter 2000 to 4th Quarter
2001 (33kb
pdf)
- 2001-03 Revenue Forecast December 2001
(45kb pdf)
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