ALBANY — Here’s the forecast for the next three state budgets: bigger, still bigger and the biggest yet.

The deficits figure to exceed expectations thanks in large part to slightly lower sales-tax collections on a smaller tax base combined with higher workers’-compensation costs.

Gov. Cuomo’s Budget Division update for the first quarter of the current fiscal year now pegs next year’s projected deficit at $982 million, which is significantly up from the original forecast of $950 million.