A good end to a rough year for California taxes

California ended the last fiscal year on a high note, raking in 5.6% more tax revenue than expected in June.

Income taxes were responsible for most of the boost, coming in at 8.4% above projections.

The details were released in a report from Gov. Jerry Brown's Department of Finance, and they show that revenue is outpacing revised estimates made in May and codified in the budget signed last month.

But that doesn't mean the last several months weren't financially difficult for California. When revenue is compared with expectations set when the 2011-12 budget was approved, taxes fell short by 4.8%, or $4.2 billion.

A dismal April, the most important month for income-tax collections, was responsible for a large chunk of that gap. That helped increase this year's budget deficit from $9.2 billion to an estimated $15.7 billion.

Brown says the budget he signed last month will cover that shortfall, but only if voters approve more than $8 billion in tax increases in November.


via LA Times