Montana state budget (2010-2011)

Note: This article was last updated in 2011. Click here for more recent information on state budgets and finances.

The state of Montana was estimated to be facing a $60 million budget shortfall by mid-2011, according to a February 2010 forecast by the state's Legislative Fiscal Division.^[1]

Going into the fiscal year Montana had a total state debt of $2,568,901,013 when calculated by adding the total of outstanding debt, pension and OPEB UAAL’s, unemployment trust funds and the 2010 budget gap as of July 2010.^[2]

2011 State spending & deficit in billions^[3]
Total spending	Pension	Healthcare	Education	Welfare	Protection	Transport	Deficit	Budget gap
$5.4	$0.5	$1.4	$1.0	$0.8	$0.4	$0.7	$4.8	$0.3

2011 Local spending & deficit in billions^[3]
Total spending	Pension	Healthcare	Education	Welfare	Protection	Transport	Deficit
$3.8	$0	$0.2	$1.4	$0.1	$0.4	$0.2	$1.5

FY2011 State Budget[edit]

See also: Archived Montana state budgets

Find the state’s FY2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government online.^[4]

As of Sept. 2010, the Legislature’s chief revenue forecaster projected state's projected general fund balance for the FY2010-2011 could be as high as $235.6 million.^[5]

In a memo to agency directors and administrators, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, in keeping with 17-7-140 MCA, directed state agencies to manage their budgets in order to reduce general fund expenditures.^[6] The Montana Code Annotated 17-7-140 states that "the governor shall ensure that the expenditure of appropriations did not exceed available revenue" and that the governor "shall direct agencies to reduce spending in an amount that ensures that the projected ending general fund balance for the biennium would be at least 1% of all general fund appropriations during the biennium."^[7]^[8]

Budget background[edit]

See also: Montana state budget and finances

Montana operates on a biennium budget. The biennium includes a 24-month period from July 1st of odd-numbered years to June 30th of odd-numbered years, such as the 2009-11 biennium, which runs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011. According to state law, the Governor was required to submit a budget recommendation to the Legislature by November 15 on even-numbered years.^[9] The state Constitution gives sole authority to the Legislature to appropriate state funds. The House and the Senate review the recommended budget along with any requests made beginning January of the next fiscal year and additional revenue forecasts.^[10]^[11]

Budget figures[edit]

The following table provides a history of Montana's expenditures and gross domestic product (GDP).

Fiscal Year	Expenditures (billions)	GDP (billions)
2000	$5.0^[12]	$21.4^[12]
2001	$5.3^[12]	$22.5^[12]
2002	$5.6^[12]	$23.6^[12]
2003	$5.9^[12]	$25.5^[12]
2004	$6.2^[12]	$27.5^[12]
2005	$6.4^[12]	$30.0^[12]
2006	$6.9^[12]	$32.0^[12]
2007	$7.5^[12]	$34.3^[12]
2008	$8.2^[12]	$36.7^[12]
2009	$8.8*^[12]	$39.3*^[12]

NOTE: The figures for FY 2009 were not finalized.

$3.7 Billion General Fund Spending includes:^[13]

Public Education 34.7%, $1.28 billion
Human Services 19%, $704 million
Corrections 9.2%, $340 million
Higher Education 8.1%, $300 million

$10.7 Billion Total Fund Spending includes:^[14]

Human Services 29.7%, $3.2 billion
Public Education 15%, $1.6 billion

2008-2009 budget crisis[edit]

See also: Montana state budget (2008-2009)

Accounting principles[edit]

Tori M. Hunthausen was the Montana Legislative Auditor. The responsibility of the Legislative Audit Division was to conduct financial and compliance, performance, and information system audits of state agencies or their programs, including the university system. Their audit reports were published online. The Legislative Auditor was solely responsible to the Legislative Assembly and was appointed by and operates primarily through the Legislative Audit Committee. The term of office was for two years beginning July 1 of each even numbered year.^[15]^[16]

Credit Rating	Fitch	Moody's	S&P
Montana^[17]	AA	Aa2	AA

Footnotes[edit]

[1] Associated Press, "Analyst says Montana budget picture worsening, predicts state to hit deficit in 2011," February 9, 2010 (dead link)

[2] State Budget Solutions “States Hide Trillions in Debt” July 22, 2010

[usas-3] 3.0 ^3.1 USA Spending, State Guesstimated* Government Spending

[4] FY2011 CAFR

[news-5] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named news

[6] Memo from Gov. Schweitzer to Agency Heads April 5, 2010

[7] 17-7-140 MCA

[8] Montana Code Annotated 17-7-140

[9] National Association of Budget Officers, "Budget Processes in the States," 2008

[10] State of Montana, "TIMETABLE FOR 2011 BIENNIUM EXECUTIVE BUDGET AND 2009 BIENNIUM ACTIONS," January 15,2009

[11] Montana Legislature, "STATE OF MONTANA BUDGET PROCESS," December 7,2007

[Budget-12] 12.00 ^12.01 ^12.02 ^12.03 ^12.04 ^12.05 ^12.06 ^12.07 ^12.08 ^12.09 ^12.10 ^12.11 ^12.12 ^12.13 ^12.14 ^12.15 ^12.16 ^12.17 ^12.18 ^12.19 US Government Spending, "Montana State and Local spending," accessed March 24,2009

[13] Montana Legislative Fiscal Division, "2011 Biennium Budget Overview," June 2009

[14] Montana Legislative Fiscal Division, "2011 Biennium Budget Overview," June 2009

[15] Legislative Audit Division Web site, accessed October 30, 2009

[16] udit reports

[17] State of Indiana, “State Credit Ratings-as of June 24, 2009"

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