The Year Delaware Spent More Than It Took In

For seven straight fiscal years, the State of Delaware collected more money than it paid out — sometimes by nearly $2 billion. Then came fiscal year 2025. For the first time in the published record, the state's checkbook outflows ($16.93 billion) exceeded its all-funds revenue ($16.56 billion) — a gap of about $370 million. Here are the numbers, what likely flipped them, and why this is not the same thing as an official deficit.

The picture, year by year

The chart below compares two datasets Delaware publishes on its own open data portal: every payment on the state checkbook, and revenue across all four fund types (General, Special, Federal and Capital).

Checkbook spending vs. all-funds revenue, FY2018–FY2026. Source: data.delaware.gov (State Checkbook, Revenue).

What likely flipped it

The stimulus timing effect. Delaware's revenue surged during the pandemic years — federal money, including roughly $1.79 billion in American Rescue Plan funds, landed in FY2021 and FY2022. But that money was spent over the following four years, on child care stabilization, school relief, broadband and port projects. Money that arrived as revenue in one year went out the door as spending in later years — narrowing the gap each year until it crossed.

The FY2024 revenue dip. All-funds revenue fell in FY2024 — the only decline in the series — while checkbook spending rose by $650 million. That left almost no cushion going into FY2025, when spending jumped another $1.44 billion, its biggest single-year increase in the record.

Spending has never gone down. Checkbook outflows rose every single year of the published record — 66% total since FY2018, led by Health & Social Services (Medicaid) and Education.

Why this is not an official "deficit"

Delaware's operating budget is balanced by law — the state constitution caps appropriations at 98% of forecast revenue, and budget writers met that bar in FY2025 as they do every year. The comparison above is broader and blunter: it counts every check the state wrote (including federal pass-through dollars, capital projects and trust-fund payments) against every dollar of recorded revenue. States can legitimately run a red year on this measure by spending down reserves and previously received federal funds — which is exactly what the ARP timeline suggests happened.

Still, the direction of travel is the story: a cushion that averaged more than a billion dollars a year shrank, vanished, and briefly inverted. FY2026's rebound came from revenue growth ($1.28 billion more than FY2025) rather than spending restraint — outflows still hit a record $17.03 billion.

Check it yourself

Every number above is reproducible from two public datasets: the State of Delaware Checkbook and Revenue. Our checkbook explorer and revenue page break both down by year, department, fund and category — no login required.