A three member panel of experts is predicting state tax revenue will continue to rise over the next three quarters — but by slightly less than what they had predicted in March. Dave Roederer, the governor’s budget director, is one of the members of the Revenue Estimating Conference. He says the state’s ag economy is “softening” and that’s one reason for the adjustment.

“Corn prices today are 40 percent less than what they were a year ago and soybeans are down 23 percent from where they were a year ago, so we were factoring that in,” Roederer says.

State policymakers are starting to think about crafting a new state spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The tax-revenue estimators are predicting the state will collect nearly five percent more in taxes that year compared to the current year.