By Sean Whaley, Nevada News Bureau: State Treasurer Kate Marshall said today she sees some evidence to suggest that Nevada’s economy has stabilized, although that stability remains “tenuous” and “fragile.”
Marshall, in an interview on the Nevada NewsMakers television program, cited a rebound in state general fund cash on hand as evidence of that stabilization.
About this time in 2007 when the state economy was healthy, Marshall said there was $1 billion in cash on hand in the general fund on average. When the recession hit beginning in December 2007, that average daily balance began a slow and steady decline, hitting a low of $300 million in the fall of 2009.
Since January, the daily cash on hand has begun to rise, reaching about $436 million currently.
In a telephone interview, Marshall said the rise in the daily balance is likely due to a combination of reduced state spending and increased tax revenue collections.
The upswing it not such that Marshall said she can draw any clear conclusions or make any predictions about the health of Nevada’s economy. The balance is still low and the turnaround is recent, she said.
What the upswing does mean is an improved comfort level, Marshall said. If the cash on hand had declined to $200 million, that would sound an alarm bell about the state’s financial health, she said.
“I feel good about it, but it is a tempered good,” Marshall said.
