Mind boggling Budget numbers!

Take a look at the General Fund budget numbers by program area (found in Governor’s budget P-5):

More budget info below:

As you can see, there are huge increases in programs in key agencies like Human Resources and Public Safety going up well over 20% each. With public safety going up over 20%, it begs the question, why a $24 million car insurance tax to pay for more troopers when the budget is already growing by $200 million without the tax? Why include Kulongoski’s cigarette tax increase (+84 cents) which might backlash? The budget also includes two types of business taxes — corporate minimum and raiding the business kicker.

Even lesser important agencies like Economic Development are witnessing a 72% budget growth.

Keep in mind, these budget numbers do not factor in Federal funds, so each amount is greater In fact, the whole all-funds budget is $49.2 billion!!!!

(Note: Some numbers may appear to be slightly different than other published budget numbers, some even published in the same budget book. This is due to a number of factors. Also all numbers are based on Oregon’s 2-year budget cycle.)