State deficits

Across the country, states are taking drastic measures to close deficits and balance their budgets.

New York Gov. David A. Paterson was not alone among state officials when he recently suggested delaying by a few weeks an additional $500 million in income tax refunds.

Some residents of Hawaii may not see a refund until the end of August. Kansas may hold back refunds while Alabama has yet to pay $79 million in refunds on tax returns. North Carolina has been delaying refunds since February.

At the same time, New York's Department of Taxation and Finance is trying to embarrass tax scofflaws into paying up. The department earlier this month started posting the state's top 250 business and top 250 individual tax debtors on its Web site.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nebraska lawmakers are considering whether to post the names of 500 taxpayers who owe the state between $2 million and $5 million.

Targeting another major source of income, a proposed bill in Georgia would require its Department of Finance to inform counties of licensed businesses that are not paying sales taxes. The move could generate another $1 billion for state and local governments.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, states are expected to have a combined $56 billion in deficits for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Cracking down on tax delinquents is one way to help close that gap and relieve the burden on other taxpayers.