By David Madden

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) — As legislators in New Jersey debate over how to implement a proposed income tax cut (see related story), there’s now a difference of opinion over just how much revenue the state is expected to bring in over the next 15 months.

The governor gets his revenue projections from the state treasurer and puts them in his budget.  Legislators turn to their own expert in the Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

Budget officer David Rosen today told the Senate Budget Committee that his numbers don’t match up with those from the Christie administration.

“Both the OLS and executive (branch) project modest growth for the remainder of fiscal year ’12 and accelerating growth for fiscal year 2013,” he testified.  “However, the executive’s growth assumptions are somewhat more enthusiastic than those of OLS.”

The difference — $537 million — is less than two percent in a $32-billion budget, so that’s not likely to affect the talk over how to make the governor’s ten-percent income tax cut plan a reality.