SACRAMENTO – On the day Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed his first budget, State Controller Betty T. Yee reported California’s revenues in December fell short of assumptions in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget by $4.82 billion.

For the fiscal year, revenues of $55.63 billion are 4.4 percent ($2.54 billion) less than projected in the budget, which was enacted at the end of June.

“With our economy continuing to hover on the brink of a downturn, I applaud Governor Newsom’s budget planning with an eye towards building a strong foundation of long-term cost savings and fiscal discipline. The governor’s proposals for debt and pension liability reduction; bold programming investments for education, health care, child care, and housing; and rainy day savings will pay dividends,” said Controller Yee, the state’s chief fiscal officer. “With thoughtful allocation of finite resources, we can shape solutions to one of our most vexing challenges – the widening inequality that plagues our state.”

Personal income tax (PIT), sales tax, and corporation tax – the state’s “big three” revenue sources – all were lower than projected in the FY 2018-19 budget.

The shortfall in December could be partly due to lags in taxpayer filings at the end of the tax year as a result of federal tax deduction changes. Consequently, January receipts are expected to catch up to the FY 2018-19 budget forecast.

For December, PIT receipts of $6.76 billion were $3.45 billion less than expected in the FY 2018-19 Budget Act. PIT receipts in December 2017 were $11.50 billion.

Sales tax receipts of $1.16 billion for December were $1.42 billion less than anticipated in the FY 2018-19 budget. Last month’s corporation taxes of $2.09 billion were $179.5 million lower than FY 2018-19 Budget Act estimates.

The general fund ended December with an internal loan borrowing balance of $11.80 billion, which was $4.85 billion less than anticipated in the FY 2018-19 budget.