LOS ANGELES -- California’s revenues for August totaled $6.91 billion, missing estimates in the state budget by $27 million, according to a report from State Controller John Chiang.
The state ended the month with a general fund cash deficit of $12.4 billion, which was covered with internal borrowing from other funds. That amount is down from last year’s cash deficit of $21.4 billion at the end of August.
“The State’s ability to pay its bills on-time and in-full remains strong and August revenues, which very narrowly missed the Governor’s official projection, indicate nothing to the contrary,” Chiang said in a statement. “Importantly, the State’s dependence on external borrowing to meet its cash flow needs has been reduced by nearly half since last year and is the smallest borrowing since 2009.”
The state recently sold $5.5 billion of revenue anticipation notes for cash flow needs, down from $10 billion of RANs sold in 2012.
Personal income taxes for August came in $56 million below estimates in the budget, while sales tax receipts were down $62.3 million. These were partly offset by corporate taxes which came in $27 million above projections and insurance taxes, which were up $80.2 million.
