TRENTON — The non-partisan Office of Legislative Services is predicting revenues will fall $1.3 billion short of the Christie administration's latest projections, according to a memo obtained by The Star-Ledger.

The OLS memo to lawmakers comes a day before the State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff is scheduled to present the administration’s final revenue projections for the current year and next. Eristoff is also expected to address whether the administration remains committed to cutting income taxes.

In March, OLS and the Christie administration were already $537 million apart on revenue projections through fiscal year 2013, with the OLS anticipating a slightly lower revenue rebound. Now the gap is $1.3 billion, thanks to poor April revenue figures, according to a memo advising lawmakers in advance of the critical hearing Wednesday.

“We now project the two-year revenue total $1.3 billion less than the amount in the governor’s budget message,” OLS budget chief David Rosen said in the memo. “Our downward revisions to the revenue forecast for the major taxes are in line with the trends we have been observing.”

Rosen and Eristoff are both scheduled to present the latest revenue figures Wednesday to the Assembly Budget Committee.

Assembly Budget Chairman Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) didn’t waste any time slamming Christie on the latest in a recent string of bad financial news for the state.

“We’ll have more to say after we hear from the treasurer, but clearly it’s time for Gov. Christie to finally come to grips with the reality that his policies have led to 9.1 percent unemployment, higher-than-ever property taxes and a serious budget problem of his own making,” Prieto said in a written statement.

He added, “This isn’t a comeback.”

The ranking Republican on the Assembly Budget Committee, Declan O’Scanlon, said he trusts the administration to tackle the issue head on.

"I expect the same sort of straight talk and real solutions that the public has come to expect from this administration," O'Scanlon said .



The Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to hear the revenue projections on Thursday.



"The shortfall is no longer some imaginary thing that can be dismissed with a wave, a pithy statement and a catchy slogan," Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) said in a written statement. "It is very real. And it is very troubling."

Related coverage:

• Senate Budget Committee boss: Gov. Christie's revenue estimates are off by nearly $1B

• N.J. April revenues fall short of expectations