LANSING – Michigan is virtually the only state among 15 large and medium-sized states in the United States to have not seen significant drops in revenues in the last full fiscal quarter, a national group that studies state budgets said Monday, but in part that is because Michigan has already dealt with reduced revenues through a tax increase.

According to a study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which is considered a liberal think tank, if revenues continue to be sluggish, as they were from July to September for the 15 largest states, it could mean a budget gap of as much as $100 billion by the start of the 2009-10 fiscal year, which for most states starts in July.

That could lead to sharp cuts in various services, including health care coverage, when the prospect of higher unemployment nationwide means that more people could need such care, the group said. The organization also said states could look to increasing taxes to help stave off some major budget cutting.

Michigan was the only state of the 15 – the others being California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin – that saw overall revenues increase during that quarter when adjusted for inflation.

In raw numbers, Michigan saw overall tax growth in that quarter of 5.7 percent (several states also saw growth in raw numbers, including Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin), according to the study. However, the median for all the states surveyed was an actual drop of .5 percent in raw numbers.

But when adjusted for inflation, Michigan alone saw revenue growth, of .4 percent. The median loss for the states in terms of income was 5.5 percent.

Either cutting budgets or raising taxes are likely to cause harm to the overall economy, the center said, because that would reduce overall spending either by state and local governments or by the public.

The study did not look at some of the largest states, including Texas, Florida and New Jersey, because figures were not available for the quarter. Texas and Florida also do not impose income taxes. Only one state in those surveyed, Washington, does not levy an income tax.

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