California’s cash intake last month dropped more than $3.5 billion below the governor’s budget estimates. State Controller John Chiang released the latest figures today. They show a revenue drop in the last ten days of April so big it erased gains from previous months.  Here’s the controller’s spokesman, Jacob Roper:

 

Roper: “Now the sales taxes continued to climb slowly in April, but corporate taxes and personal income taxes definitely went down.”

 

The state started the fiscal year with a nearly $12 billion budget deficit. Now it faces a cash deficit of more than $20 billion. Chiang says the governor and lawmakers must come to a consensus soon because delay will limit their options in dealing with the deficit.

 

The governor will release his much-anticipated “May Revise” budget later this month.