REVENUE FORECAST

Lawmakers, Otter agree on 2014 forecast

For the first time since Idaho’s Great Recession began in 2008, Idaho lawmakers decided Gov. Butch Otter’s tax revenue forecast for the coming fiscal year isn't too optimistic.

The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee voted 14-4 Tuesday to support Otter's estimate, which foresees 2014 revenue of $2.8 billion.

The vote reflects optimism that Idaho's economy is on the rebound.

It also leaves plenty of financial wiggle room to pay for Otter's proposal to use $20 million to fund personal property tax relief and to put $35 million into savings accounts.

The more-pessimistic lawmakers said they worried that adopting Otter's number — while only a recommendation to budget writers who will be crafting the spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 — will leave them scrambling in future years.

TRANSPARENCY TREND

Idaho launches state public-info website

Want to know who the top-paid state employees are?

Or how much the Department of Health and Welfare is spending?

A new transparency website will make it easier to find these and thousands of other details about state government finances.

Gov. Butch Otter and Controller Brandon Woolf announced transparent.idaho.gov on Thursday.

Otter said the site was akin to public records requests “on steroids,” while Woolf said the site’s information would be updated nightly to provide up-to-the-day snapshots of what's happening in state government.

The site is modeled after similar state accountability projects in places like Washington and West Virginia, and is part of a transparency-in-government trend.

Idaho's project was completed for $28,000, which was within Woolf’s agency’s existing budget.

PERSI

Idaho pension fund exceeds expectations

The state pension fund is ahead of its target through the first six months of the fiscal year.

Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho Director Don Drum told budget writers Thursday the more than $12.5 billion, 125,000-member fund is returning 7.44 percent through this month — above the 7-percent estimate.

If the trend continues, Drum says PERSI will reduce its unfunded liability that now stands at $1.6 billion, a figure that’s lower than in many other states whose pensions have had to make benefit changes to help balance their books.

State employees are scheduled to pay more money from their paychecks this year into the account as part of already-planned contribution hikes.

As part of that, state taxpayers’ share of contributions will rise by about $2 million this next year.