Budget panel meets to project Iowa's revenue

Panel of budget experts meet to estimate tax collections for Iowa's current fiscal year

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A panel of budget experts will meet to estimate tax collections for Iowa's current fiscal year.

The Revenue Estimating Conference is scheduled to meet Friday. The three-member panel includes the governor's top budget adviser, the financial adviser to the Legislature and an independent member, Mason City economist David Underwood.

The group meets several times a year to project how much the state will collect in taxes. In December, they projected the state's revenues would grow by 3.3 percent in the fiscal year that ends June 30. That's about $6.5 billion in revenue.

The projections from the conference are used to draft the state budget.