SACRAMENTO – Less than a month after the governor revised his proposed 2015-16 state budget, May receipts for the state’s general fund exceeded the governor’s new projections by $69.1 million, according to State Controller Betty T. Yee’s monthly report of California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements.
At the same time, May receipts were $317.9 million less than anticipated when the budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year was enacted a year ago.
All told, though, general fund receipts through May 31 outstripped projections in last year’s Budget Act by $5.8 billion, or 6.2 percent.
And receipts have exceeded last year’s actual receipts by $10.7 billion, or 12 percent, reflecting a stronger California economy.
May retail sales and use taxes surpassed estimates in the May budget revision by $29.8 million.
The state’s other two major taxes were both lower than anticipated – the personal income tax by $3.7 million and the corporation tax by $20.2 million.
Total general fund receipts were $7.6 billion, almost 1 percent higher than projected in the May revision.
Compared to the 2014-15 budget, May personal income tax came in $333.7 million short. About $85 million of this amount resulted from lower withholdings from workers’ paychecks, with another $19 million attributable to higher-than-expected income tax refunds.
Retail sales and use taxes fell short by $88.7 million and corporation taxes by $4.5 million. In total, the top three sources of revenue came in $426.9 million less than expected in the budget enacted a year ago.
But May receipts were an anomaly in an otherwise strong year, with total general fund receipts at $99.6 billion, compared to the $93.7 billion anticipated when the 2014-15 budget was approved.
The general fund, the source of most state spending, ended the month with outstanding loans of $6.1 billion, which is $7.8 billion less than anticipated in last year’s budget.
The state’s sources of internal funds that can be borrowed to cover short-term cash shortfalls ended the month at $32.2 billion, about $4.3 billion higher than projections.
This reflects the strength of special funds which, like the general fund, have done better than expected.
