State finance officials watching revenue

Monday, July 1st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Tulsa-AP) -- Oklahoma launches into a new fiscal year today. And state tax revenue is being placed under a microscope by finance officials who must decide whether more budget cuts will be made.

For the first time since the mid-1980s, the Legislature this year faced revenue shortfalls in both the current and upcoming fiscal years.

The Office of State Finance reduced appropriations to state agencies by $140-million as of May because of lower-than-expected state revenues. Monthly allocations were reduced by 6.6% for March and April and by 16.8% for May and June.

Appropriations for fiscal year 2003 will be cut by 2.3%, amounting to 182.4-million.