Wisconsin budget shortfall projected at $1.8 billion

MADISON (AP) — The Legislature's nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau says the projected shortfall for the next two-year state budget ending in mid-2017 stands at nearly $1.8 billion.

The Fiscal Bureau released the latest estimate on Monday. The projected shortfall, or structural deficit, is nearly triple what was forecast in May.

That shortfall is on top of the projected deficit in the current two-year budget, which is expected to hit nearly $116 million by the middle of next year.

All of the estimates are subject to further revision depending on exactly how much the state spends in coming months and how closely future tax collections come in relative to estimates used to building the budget.

The Legislature will write the next two year budget next year.