Hey, it's a Walker Admin budget release!

Saw that the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and the DOR released end-of-fiscal year revenue numbers, and the Walker folks tried to do some "it's working" -style bragging. And on the face, the numbers look pretty good.

Preliminary data on general fund tax collections for the 2011-12 fiscal year is now available.
According to the Department of Revenue (DOR), collections totaled $13,514.6 million in 2011-12, which is an increase of 4.7% from the prior year.

The final estimate of tax collections for 2011-12 was $13,388,000,000, which is the number that will appear in the next version of the statutes. Actual collections were $126.6 million, or 0.9% above the estimate.

They also ended up $220 million above the LFB's estimates in February, where the LFB predicted a budget deficit opening up through due to low projected revenues. It also seems to contradict my claims in May that the increases were one-time blips that couldn't be trusted for final numbers at the end of the fiscal year. All taxes except for excise taxes came in above the orginal 2011-2012 approved state budget, which means there will be a bit of breathing room in year 2 to keep the numbers in line. They still need increases in incomes and sales taxes, but it's more along the lines of 2-3% instead of the 4-5% increases that were built into the 2012-2013 budget.

However, let's not quite break out the party hats just yet. If year 1 ends up in "surplus", it will be more because of some sketchy Walker Administration decisions on the spending side than improved revenues. The DOR's own pro-Walker release in May mentioned $78 million in savings due to "structural refunding authorized by [the state budget] and other debt refinancing, which is creating reduced debt service costs for the 2011-2013 biennium," and Sen. Kathleen Vinehout later got the LFB to reveal that this wasn't the only time this administation was kicking the can down the road by ringing up their credit cards.

State officials refinanced $190.1 million in May 2011 that would have otherwise been repaid. New bonds were sold in September 2011 to avoid paying $45.4 million in payments coming due in November 2012. And in March 2012, $218 million in debt payments due in May were delayed. The administration will also postpone another $104.8 million this May.

In one year, May 2011 to May 2012, a total of $558.3 million in debt payments due were delayed. Taxpayers will pay $156.2 million in new interest charges because of those recent financial actions. This new debt won’t be paid off until 2030-31.

Pretty easy to lower expenses if you just put em off, eh? And it's pretty easy to have a good budget when you fill its holes by taking $25 million in foreclosure aid money out of the hands of the people who might need it, a move that drew the ire of Preident Obama's HUD Secretary.

In a May 4 letter obtained recently, Shaun Donovan, secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, said the spirit of the settlement was to provide help directly to those affected, or at risk of being affected, by foreclosure.

"I am concerned about other reports indicating that the funds will be used to close state budget gaps unrelated to housing," Donovan wrote. "While ultimate allocation of these funds is up to you and other state officials, I would urge you to use this settlement payment to support direct homeowner assistance that can help ensure that Wisconsin homeowners can take advantage of every opportunity to avoid foreclosure and prevent the blight associated with foreclosure from hurting their neighbors and community."

But that would be helping people that aren't rich over posing for holy figures about papers that say your budget is balanced, which is a big no-no in Fitzwalkerstan. Therefore, they threw the money into the budget hole.

But you can bet none this will not be mentioned when the overall budget figures for year 1 of Ftizwalkerstan get finalized next month, and in all probably will look good at first glance. Walker (and most Republicans, in 2012 for that matter) have shown they can't be trusted to tell the truth on any of these matters, and their short-term gimmicks inevitably cost people more in the long-term. Look no further than Dan Bice's story this week, which showed that Walker's breaking of Milwaukee County union contracts on furloughs will now cost taxpayers an extra $4.5 million.

And why did Walker impose the furloughs in the first place (other than posing for Milwaukee talk radio and rubes in the 262)? A budget that illegally included a $17 million hole in it, assuming that there would be concessions. Walker used that hole to claim a budget emergency and impose the furloughs, (if this lie sounds like the cooked-up budget deficit that led to Act 10 at the state level in 2011, you would be correct).

So let's not give too many plaudits for Walker's "fiscal prudence." There's a whole lot of tricks that had to be pulled just to make this year look good, and you know the bill's coming due for those antics. And when that inevitably hits the fan, it'll create a whole lot more hurt to everyone...except for the administration that caused the problems.