Maryland’s projected revenues improved by $1.4 billion in the current fiscal year with huge help from the federal government in response to the coronavirus, but state officials warned Tuesday of continued financial uncertainty amid the pandemic and Washington’s response to it.
The state’s Board of Revenue Estimates raised revenue projections to $18.7 billion for the current fiscal year, which began in July.
“While some may view these higher-than-expected revenue projections as indicators that our economy is on the path of recovery, it’s critical that we’re clear-eyed about what factors contributed to these numbers, because we remain, frankly, in a period of economic and fiscal volatility as our state, nation and world continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said board member and Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, at a virtual meeting.
The board also estimated that revenue projections for the next fiscal year would be $2.1 billion higher than previously projected, when the shutdown of businesses and resulting unemployment presented a darker fiscal outlook. However, the revised estimate is based on assumptions that there is a second round of federal stimulus, though a smaller one. It also assumes there will not be a second wave of virus cases that would require closing businesses again.
