Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon's budget shortfall is worse than originally thought.

In working out the revenue forecast last week, someone in the Office of Economic Analysis made a mistake figuring out income from the cigarette tax.

Instead of tallying a state tax of 22 cents per pack, he or she figured out 22 percent of the taxes attached to a pack.

State economist Tom Potiowsky says that mistake made the shortfall larger.

Tom Potiowsky: "That bumped up the cigarette tax forecast $14.5 million dollars too high and so the numbers are all right and the analysis is fine. It's just that little transpose of the numbers there, caused that forecast to be too high."

It was another state worker with the legislative revenue office who caught the mistake. The shortfall now stands at $577 million.

The governor has said some state workers will lose their jobs as a result of the nine percent budget cut he has ordered.