Projection: Idaho will Close Year with Cash Surplus

Idaho will end the fiscal year with $77 million in the bank, if current projections hold.  (These comparatively bright prospects -- after three years of revenue shortfalls -- were delivered Thursday at a taxpayer lobbying group's conference in Boise by the Idaho Legislature's budget manager, Cathy Holland-Smith. Already, agencies are clamoring for the money. They've submitted $143 million in requests above their existing budgets, so not everybody will get everything they want. One thing is for sure: If budget predictions hold, Idaho will begin restocking reserves drained from about $400 million back at the start of the recession in fiscal year 2009. The fact that Idaho doesn't have much in its rainy-day fund leaves Holland-Smith a little concerned about what could happen if the economy were to tank again.