HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania ended the previous fiscal year with a swollen $785 million tax revenue surplus, a sum providing new political fodder on the day after the $27.15 billion state budget for fiscal 2011-12 was signed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
The release Friday by the state Revenue Department of the year-end revenue report shows tax collections for the entire fiscal year are 2.9 percent above projections as the economy improves. Tax collections for June alone are $246 million, or 8.3 percent, more than anticipated, said Revenue Secretary Daniel Meuser.
Of the three mainstay state taxes, personal income, corporate and sales taxes were up in June.
The $785 million figure is higher than what even the most optimistic observers had forecast. Democratic lawmakers had predicted an ending surplus of $700 million earlier in the week.
The final state budget will appropriate between $240 million to $250 million of this surplus among various line items, according to separate estimates by legislative caucuses.
The remaining surplus could have been used to minimize student tuition hikes at the state-owned universities, revive the Adultbasic health program for the working poor and avoid deep cuts to the state homeowners emergency mortgage assistance program, Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-7, Philadelphia, ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on Friday.
Corbett said Thursday the budget reflects the available revenue on hand. The governor and Republican lawmakers have said a hefty surplus is needed given the uncertain economy and related fiscal issues.
"We are funding what needs to be funded - not just spending money because it's there," said Stephen Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Pittsburgh. "This is the first budget crafted with the taxpayer in mind."