State controller reports on fiscal 2007 revenue

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's total revenues grew by nearly 5.7 percent last fiscal year, reaching $7.4 billion, state Controller Kim Wallin noted Thursday in an annual report.

Revenues in the 2007 fiscal year, which ended June 30, were up nearly $400 million over the prior fiscal year, according to information in the 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR.

The state's expenses for fiscal year 2007 were $7.2 billion, compared with $6.2 billion in the prior year, a 15.2 percent increase, Wallin reported.

The CAFR reports on the sources of state revenues and how those revenues are spent. It does not reflect the slowdown in the economy since the beginning of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2007.

"The economic downturn has created a lot of interest in the latest CAFR because people want to know what the financial health of the state is," Wallin said.

But the call by Gov. Jim Gibbons for budget cuts was based not on the fiscal 2007 report, but on actual fiscal 2008 revenues collected so far compared to 2008 budget projections.

Nevada's general fund -- the state's primary operating fund -- had revenues of $5.3 billion in 2007, an increase of nearly $200 million over 2006. The 3.9 percent increase in general fund revenues was slower than the previous year, however, when they grew 7.9 percent.

The slower growth of tax revenues in 2007 was attributed primarily to the slowdown in growth in gaming and sales tax revenue. And there was an actual decrease in revenue from property and transfer taxes of $44.5 million or 27 percent.

"With Nevada leading the nation in foreclosures, having the highest rate of sub-prime and adjustable rate mortgages, the state will continue to see a significant impact on our economy in the foreseeable future," the report states.

In contrast, the commercial real estate market continued to grow in 2007, particularly in the gaming industry, which saw more than $16 billion worth of projects started.