August State Budget Revenues Top Projections

California tax revenues continue to stream in. The state is nearly half a billion dollars above budget projections just two months into the new fiscal year – though there’s one big caveat.

Despite the turbulent stock market, California budget revenues still out-performed expectations last month – just as they did in July. State coffers also got a $300 million infusion two months earlier than expected – PG&E paid up on a legal settlement with the state ahead of schedule.

Put it all together and Governor Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance says the California budget is nearly $500 million in the black so far – although most of that money is from the settlement.

The strongest performance continues to come from personal income taxes, which are more than $100 million above projections. Sales taxes are coming in roughly flat, and corporate taxes are down a bit.