Speaking with reporters last week, state Treasurer David Rousseau said the state still looked at a potential $400 million budget deficit next year, repeating a figure initially used by Gov. Jon S. Corzine in an Oct. 15 speech before a joint session of the state Legislature as he laid out an ambitious recovery plan that would aid the neediest households while increasing short-term employment and pushing long-term development and keeping state spending in check.

Rousseau said he might update the potential deficit figures in the coming weeks.

He said last month it was difficult to diagnose the state's fiscal health from one quarter's figures. But some shortfalls during the three months have been steep.

The casino revenue tax decline has led the state to call a series of meetings to deal with the Casino Revenue Fund, underwritten by an 8 percent tax on gross gaming revenue. The fund pays for state programs that benefit senior citizens and disabled residents.

The Casino Revenue Fund Commission has 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. meetings scheduled for Nov. 19 at the Casino Control Commission offices in Atlantic City, Nov. 21 in Trenton's Statehouse Annex and Dec. 9 at the Bergen County Freeholders' Conference room in Hackensack.

Car sales have suffered this year, with double-digit decreases compared with similar months in earlier years.

In August, the last month for which comparable figures were available, the state Motor Vehicle Commission recorded 42,293 new and 70,954 used car sales. That's off by 22.3 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively, from 2007. It also is down from 2005's higher figures of 66,704 new sales and 84,589 used sales.

Republicans have called for a sales-tax holiday between Thanksgiving and New Year's, when the sales tax would be halved throughout the state, and expect extra sales volume to compensate for any impact on tax collection. On Monday, Assembly members Vincent J. Polistina, R-Atlantic, and Caroline Casagrande, R-Monmouth, Mercer, repeated the call in the wake of Circuit City, the nation's second largest electronics retailer, filing for bankruptcy.

"We cannot afford to stand by and do nothing with this strong evidence that the current economic downturn is resulting in depressed sales and numerous business failures," Polistina said in a release.

The bad news may not be entirely bad, said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state Sierra Club.

People are driving less, burning less gas and considering more efficient vehicles. The downturn also means lessened development pressure on environmentally sensitive areas.

"In every economic situation there are good and bad things that can come out of it, and the biggest issue is going to be what are we going to do to get out of it," he said.

He had a number of suggestions, including investing in transportation, focusing on job growth in cities instead of fields and development of renewable energy.

He said a study by the Sierra Club said that could translate into 58,000 jobs statewide.

But Phil Kirschner, president of the 19,500-member New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the downturn looked like bad news for just about everybody, with the possible exception of service and repair businesses.

The state lost 18,700 private-sector jobs between January and September, NJBIA spokesman Chris Biddle said.

Kirschner expected the downturn to extend into 2009, with slower consumer sales, decreased business investment, deferred spending on big-ticket items and lessened leisure-time spending.

"Whether you're a business person or a consumer, people are tending to buy only what they need to have," Kirschner said. "The things that people treat themselves to are being postponed."

E-mail Derek Harper:

DHarper@pressofac.com