States' fiscal forecasts for 2016 less promising than 2015.

• Position: News & Numbers - Brief article

State tax revenues grew by 6.8 percent in the second quarter of 2015, the final quarter of the fiscal year for 46 states, according to the most recent State Revenue Report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Personal income tax growth was robust at 14.2 percent, which was driven by strong payments, with final returns up 20 percent and estimated taxes up 18.2 percent. This trend is not expected to continue, according to the report, as 2015 revenue figures were bolstered by the strong stock market of 2014.

According to the study's authors, states expect fiscal year 2016 to be weaker than 2015, largely because of an anticipated slowdown in income tax revenue. The median forecast of income tax...