Surplus Grows to $243 Million: Rell

The 2010 state budget surplus has grown to nearly $243 million, and the governor’s budget office says a boost in tax revenues and an improving economy have contributed.

The projected budget surplus for the year, which ends on June 30, is $76 million over last month’s estimates, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The state sales tax estimate increased by $30 million and this is the second straight month of growth in sales tax revenue. Collection of fees, licenses and permits also have grown by $12 million, Rell said.

The first $140 million in surplus must be used as revenue to balance the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and any amount of surplus over that will be used to reduce borrowing needs, according to the budget the governor signed on May 7. The surplus will cut what the state borrows, Rell said.

“Our state is now in a much stronger position to cut down borrowing,” Rell said. “If these projections hold, we will be able to apply more than $100 million of that surplus to pay down our securitization debt.”

Rell says Connecticut has added jobs in each of the last five months, which has helped increase income and sales tax collections.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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