SAN FRANCISCO - California's general fund ended the fiscal year with a positive cash balance for the first time since 2007, State Controller John Chiang announced July 10.
The general fund — the primary account from which California funds its day-to-day operations and programs — ended the month of June with $1.9 billion in cash, according to the office's monthly report covering cash balance, receipts, and disbursements.
This was the first time, Chiang said, that California ended its fiscal year in the black since June 30, 2007, when it ended the year with $2.5 billion in the bank.
"While this is welcome news after seven years of record-high borrowing just to pay our everyday bills, we still have much work to do," Chiang said in a statement. "We should remain laser-focused on paying down the Wall of Debt, reversing the many accounting gimmicks to which we've become addicted and keeping the state as liquid as possible to avoid experiencing the payment delays and IOUs that plagued our state during the Great Recession."
A positive cash balance means that the state had funds available to meet all of its payment obligations without needing to borrow externally, or internally from more than 700 internal special funds and accounts, according to Chiang's office.
Cash-flow revenue anticipation note borrowing is still expected as normal this year, but the office will make that determination in the coming weeks.
"The controller's office will be meeting with the Department of Finance and the State Treasurer's Office in the coming weeks on the updated cash projections in the budget to determine our borrowing needs, including both the size and the timing," said Garin Caseleggio, a spokesman for Chiang.
For the 2013-14 fiscal year, state revenues came in at $101.6 billion, or 2.1% more than projected in the governor's budget, released in January.
Personal income taxes totaled $66.2 billion, or 2.6% above estimates, and corporate taxes totaled $8.5 billion, which was 9.3% above estimates.
Retail sales and use taxes came in at $22.2 billion, or 1.8% below estimates.
For the month of June, revenues came in at $14.8 billion — or 2.1% -- above January estimates. Income tax collections were 7.4% above estimates at $635 million, and corporate taxes were 13.2% above projections, at $289 million.
Sales taxes were 11.6% short of projections at $265.8 million.
"Another down cycle in the economy is inevitable — we just don't know when or how prolonged it might be," Chiang said. "We should be vigilant about preparing for that day while we celebrate the great progress we've made to date."
