Florida Hurricane Season Threatens Second Hit to State Finances
- Hurricane season may see ‘above normal’ activity: CSU projects
- State’s rainy day fund can be tapped for budget, hurricane aid
Hurricane Florence in 2018.
Source: NASA
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As Florida begins to emerge from the coronavirus shutdown, another unseen threat lays in wait: hurricane season.
The virus has already thrown more than a million Floridians out of work and caused a massive blow to the tourism-driven state where sales taxes provide more than half of the government’s revenue, with beaches, restaurants and amusement parks temporarily shuttered. Even as the state starts to re-open, Florida may see an $8 billion to $10 billion hit to its budget because of the virus, amounting to about a quarter of its general fund, according to analysis by Moody’s Analytics.