Tax collections of $4.9 billion in February were $21.6 million above the state’s latest estimates, according to the monthly cash report released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Through 11 months of the fiscal year, tax collections were $636.6 million higher than originally projected, and $19 million higher than the latest estimates.

“This year’s budget assumed relatively modest growth in tax revenues, and so far receipts have been higher than initially expected,”DiNapoli said. “The state is in a strong fiscal position but there is volatility that should be watched closely.”

Personal Income Tax (PIT) receipts in February totaled $3.4 billion, an increase of 7.9 percent from February 2014.

Other findings from the February cash report include:

• Consumption and use tax collections totaled just over $14 billion through February, an increase of 1.8 percent from the previous year, but $28.8 million lower than updated projections due to weaker sales tax collections in February. Business tax collections through February totaled $5.7 billion, up 2 percent from last year and $21.8 million above the latest projections;
• All Funds receipts totaled $131.6 billion through February, $1.2 billion higher than updated projections. The majority of the variance was in federal receipts ($1.1 billion), primarily due to the timing of reimbursements. Miscellaneous receipts ended the month $40.8 million higher than current projections;
• All Funds spending of $122 billion through February was $147.2 million lower than updated projections. Spending for local assistance grants totaled $88.8 billion and was 6.1 percent or $5.1 billion higher than last year and $5.4 million more than updated projections. State operations spending totaled $18.1 billion through February, which was less than $1 million lower than planned. Debt service totaled $3.4 billion and was $671.2 million lower than last year, and $2.6 million below projections; and
• The General Fund ended February with a balance of $11.2 billion, which was $340.9 million higher than projected and $2.4 billion more than last year at the same time.

DiNapoli's office issues a state cash report every month identifying actual state revenues and spending from the prior month. The cash report focuses primarily on the General Fund and All Governmental Funds. The General Fund is the major operating fund of the state. All Governmental Funds includes General, Special Revenue, Debt Service and Capital Projects funds, as well as funds from the federal government. The report is now accessible in Excel and Adobe formats.

Since becoming State Comptroller, DiNapoli has created several tools to allow the public to better track government spending, contracts and other fiscal issues. These are easily accessible on his transparency website, the recently expanded Open Book New York.