Bill Summary for Bill Number Presentation by Joint Budget Committee

Date: 01/21/2009

Final
Presentation by Joint Budget Committee

COMMITTEE ON JOINT FINANCE

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12:08 PM -- Briefing by the Joint Budget Committee on the Budget Request for the Department of Revenue and Treasury

Senator Sandoval called the meeting to order. Senator Keller, Chairman of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC), began by introducing the members of the JBC and distributed a document entitled "Summary of FY 2009-10 Joint Budget Committee Briefings" (This document can be found at: http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/jbc/corbrf.pdf). She began by saying that the presentation would highlight the JBC briefings for the Department of Treasury and the Department of Revenue (DOR).

Senator Keller discussed the Department of Revenue's budget history, its key responsibilities, and factors driving its budget. She noted that the briefings (brown book) document shows the dependence each department has on the General Fund budget. Senator Keller referred to page 97 in the book. For the DOR, it is mostly funded by cash funds (83 percent). Very little federal fund money is involved. She noted that the book provides a budget history for the department.

Senator Keller continued by noting that about $18.7 million in state revenue is lost each year from delinquent corporate returns. The recent increase in department FTE is addressing this issue and the need for an increase in auditing capabilities of the department. Senator Keller turned next to the status of the Colorado State Tilting and Registration System Rewrite Project (CSTARS). The CSTARS rewrite project was cancelled after deployment to the counties because the system did not work as expected. The state has reached an agreement with the contractor where neither side admits fault. The department has not yet made a decision as to the next course of action with regard to the system. Senator Keller closed the discussion on CSTARS by talking about the VIPER update.

Senator Keller continued the discussion on the importance of funding the new tax computer system being developed by the department. The Colorado Integrated Tax Architecture (CITA) project affects the largest amount of funds coming into the state, namely the income tax system. The committee discussed the need to replace the current cobalt system computer system that was first put into use in 1967. Senator Keller closed by saying that CITA is the department's only IT project left that will be funded in the FY 2009-10 budget year. The income tax phase of the project is expected to be up and running by the close of 2009.

12:35 PM

The committee discussed the CITA project and funding requirements in the FY 2009-10 budget. Senator Keller reiterated the importance of funding a system that brings in a large part of the money in the state's General Fund. Senator Keller briefly referred the committee to page 112 in the briefings book and discussed an overview of the budget request for the Department of Treasury. She noted that the total growth in the Treasury's budget for the FY 2009-10 request was $425.4 million, a 0.3 percent increase over the prior year's budget. Senator Keller closed by briefly discussing the Treasury's Great Colorado Payback Promotion Program.