A growing hole: Sad state budget numbers

The Union Leader editorial page notes that state revenues for August were $17.6 million lower than expected.

That doesn't mean we should make state historians history right now. It's only August; the fiscal year is still new. However, identifying places in the state budget where we could save a few tens of millions of dollars would be a great idea.

Of course, that is always a great idea. But somehow legislators and the governor seem to come around to it only when there's a recession.

Republicans are hollering that the August numbers show that the Democrats' revenue forecasts were intentionally too rosy.

It's far too early to tell if revenues will meet their targets for the year. It is clear that the Department of Revenue Administration, which calculates the month to month revenue estimates after the Legislature sets the yearly targets, is still adjusting to a new Commissioner and a lack of institutional memory. September will likely tell the tale as quarterly business tax payments are due.

400 duplicate tax refund checks mailed by state

The Department of Employment Security continues to lead the way for bureaucratic bungling this summer, but the Department of Revenue Administration Services is trying to keep up. New Hampshire Business Review reports on 1,600 residents who have gotten duplicate checks they won't be able to keep.

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration sent out nearly 400 duplicate refund checks to taxpayers last week, about a week after the Department of Employment Security sent out 1,200 duplicate unemployment checks.

All told, roughly $400,000 of the state’s money was sent out by mistake. However, both departments said they should recoup all of the money without much of a problem.