Study: Colorado government faces fiscal crisis - Denver Business Journal:

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The report from the Center for Colorado’s Economixc Future at DU is titled “Colorado’x State Budget Tsunami.” It is to be formally released “There is simply not enougjh money to pay for the government wehave created,” the report says. “Barrintg a quick and dramatic turnaround ofthe economy, it appears that the currenr fiscal system cannot be sustained.” In announcing the report’s DU noted that “anticipated fiscao demands for K-12 education, prisonxs and Medicaid will swamp today’s revenue-generatingf tax and fee system” in Colorado.
The report recommendsd a review of the statebudget “It is once again time to take a criticak look at where we are and startf the process of a much-needed overhaul,” it says. Colorado lawmaker s this year made steep cuts in statde programs and drew on federal stimulus funds to balance the budget, and then that the stat e faces a $384 million revenue shortfall for next • “The budgetary tsunami that washed over Colorado government last fall and winte r was likely just the first wave.
More tidal wavee in [fiscal year] 2010-11 threaten to keep the general fund underwatef and lawmakers struggling to findnew • “The largest departments of stated government are growing more than twice as fast as tax dollar are coming in, leaving a lot less mone available for other needs.” “Education, prisons and health care consumed about 54 centws of every general fund dollaf a decade ago. They now eat up nearlt 76 cents of every generakfund dollar, and that figure will jump to 91 centsx in five years if the average growtj rate continues. Eventually, at this there would be no moneu forother programs.
” • “There is little question the financial difficulties faced by Colorado’d state government during this decade’s two recessions will continue into the The problem is mathematical – there is simply not enough money to pay for the governmentt we have created and the services many of us have come to Center director Charles Brown co-authored the report with Jeffreh Roberts. The full report is to be releasex Tuesday at a10 a.m. MDT news conference, and Brown is slatex to testify on its findings before thestat legislature’s Fiscal Stabilization Commissionb on Wednesday.
The Center for Colorado’s Economic Futur describes itselfas “an independent, nonpartisan organization that conducta research on matters related to Colorado’s fiscao health, trends affecting the state’s economy and propose d legislation relating to taxation and public