1.2 Revenues

Revenues to cover state government spending come from 6 sources. Most oil revenues and taxes go into the General Fund and are available to spend at the discretion of the legislature. In recent years these revenues have not been enough to cover all spending out of the General Fund so an annual draw (loan) from the Constitutional Budget Reserve has been required. Federal grants are another important source of revenues for the budget. They go directly to pay for specific operating programs and capital projects under federal guidelines. Most of the earnings of the Permanent Fund are spent either to pay the Dividend or to inflation proof the Permanent Fund. All other revenue sources (including duplicated appropriations), except the proceeds of bond sales, fall into a miscellaneous Other category consisting of a large number of smaller funds.

We decide how much to spend (appropriations) at the beginning of the year, but don't know exactly where all the money will be coming from until the year has ended. This is largely because fluctuations in the price of oil during the year change the amount of oil revenues flowing into the General Fund and, consequently, the amount we need to "borrow" at the end of the year from the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Although the exact amount we receive in federal transfers and the amount we will have to appropriate to inflation proof the permanent fund are also unknown until the year ends, uncertainty in those figures does not impact the size of General Fund revenues or the loan from the Constitutional Budget Reserve.

Since the money to pay for state spending comes from a combination of current revenues, investment earnings, and fund draws, it is not the same amount as the income of state government. In some years the state has more income than it spends, saving the balance. In other years it spends more than it takes in, drawing down on its accumulated balances. See the section on Income and Expenses for a discussion of this.

Source	Billion $
Where Did the Money Come From in FY 2002
Total Sources (Total Authorization)	$8.033
Net General Fund Unrestricted Revenues	1.930
Constitutional Budget Reserve Draw	.474
Federal Transfers	2.082
Part of Permanent Fund Earnings	1.799
Bond Sales	.273
Other Revenue Sources (excluding Bond Sales)	1.475
Item: Duplications (including Bond Sales)	.827
Item: Total Sources net of Duplications	$7.206
Source: Legislative Finance Summary of Appropriations for 2001 Session, and ISER. This is for spending during the 2002 fiscal year from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002.

Do you want to go to the source? Legislative Finance produces a detailed summary of appropriations for each year. Legislative Finance Summary of Appropriations for 2001-2002

This section is based on the budget as it was passed prior to the fiscal year, known as the "Enacted" budget. During the fiscal year numerous changes occur to the budget and after the year comes to a close the "Actual" budget, or amount spent, will always be somewhat different. Why the budget is a moving target

1.2 Revenue Sources—Where Did We Get the Money?