Desperate times, Gov. Paterson tells us. Tax revenue to the state is falling, and we’re all going to have to tighten our belts. He’s calling the Legislature back into session to deal with the crisis.

Except that revenue is not falling. It’s going up. It’s simply going up less than earlier predicted, and much less than it went up during the boom years. For next year it is now predicted to go up a measly 2 percent, which makes for a crisis because state spending is projected to go up 11 percent.

That’s right – an 11 percent increase in spending, most of that automatic because of generous contracts with employees and a school-aid formula that is remorseless. You plug in the numbers and up it goes.

Why, when the state budget was adopted a few months ago, General Fund spending on schools was projected to be $1.76 billion higher next year than the $17.8 billion allotted this year. A 10 percent increase right there without anything new happening. And already, just continuing to plug numbers into the formula, next year’s projected increase has already become $2 billion.

Will the governor and the Legislature have the will or the backbone to stand up to the teachers’ unions and put a stop to this? Or will they just diddle around the edges and cut a few positions in state parks? I’m not going to hold my breath.

But anyway, please note: The problem is not so much declining revenue (meaning tax receipts) as it is runaway spending.