Florida won’t have much extra money in 2017

Florida will have very little extra money to spend in the coming year.

That means top legislators and Gov. Rick Scott may have slash the state budget to meet some of their promises.

The annual forecast released Tuesday shows that despite the state’s gradual economic recovery Florida is expected to bring in just enough money to meet its spending needs.

That forecast shows the state will have a surplus of only $7.5 million during the fiscal year that starts in July 2017.

And more importantly Florida will have a substantial budget gap of $1.3 billion in Scott’s final year in office.

Amy Baker, the state economist whose office helps put together the forecast, says legislators will need to address the budget problem during next year’s legislative session.