Fifteen of the largest U.S. states have forecast gains intax revenue for 2011, ending a two-year slide in tax collections, while all 50states expect to hike collections by about 3.5 percent.
According to Bloomberg, California gathered nearly 4percent more in tax revenue since December than it had projected at the startof the year, while in New Jersey tax collections were running about 2 percenthigher than the previous year - its first increase in 19 months. New York saidit was running $129 million above state forecasts.
In 2009, states collected about $79 billion less insales, income and corporate taxes in 2009 than in 2008, according to a U.S.Census Bureau report.
Collections of personal income and sales taxes fell by 17percent and 7 percent, respectively, last year compared with 2008, according tothe Census Bureau.Corporate taxesincreased 3.4 percent, to $9.1 billion in the fourth quarter after postingdeclines in seven of the previous nine quarters.
The states' aggregate budget gaps will total $180 billionin fiscal 2011 and $120 billion in fiscal 2012.
