Analyst: No 'Fiscal Cliff' When Tax Hikes End

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Legislative Analyst's Office says steady economic growth will buffer California when temporary tax increases expire in the coming years.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor released a report Wednesday showing state revenue trends through 2019, the first year after the Proposition 30 tax hikes expire.

Taylor writes that the expiring tax hikes "will not necessarily cause a sudden revenue drop off - a 'fiscal cliff' - for the annual state budget process."

In 2012, voters approved Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to raise an additional $6 billion a year through higher taxes.

The statewide sales tax was raised to 7.5 percent, an increase that will expire at the end of 2016. An increase in income taxes on the wealthy will expire at the end of 2018.

Some Democrats have suggested extending it.