Connecticut Comptroller Nancy Wyman on Monday revised her estimate for a fiscal 2010 surplus to $393.3 million, nearly double her previous projection.
Wyman said higher than expected receipts, especially from licenses and fees and sales and insurers’ taxes, added $150.4 million to her surplus estimate issued in June.
Sales tax receipts — the state’s largest tax category after the income tax — have risen steadily since March, climbing another $39 million in July alone, she said.
“The improvement in the sales tax is a good indicator that our economy is slowly turning around,” the comptroller said, “but overall growth is still far below what we need for a full recovery.”
Calendar-year sales tax collections are still running about 4 percent less than in 2009, she said.
Estimated receipts from licenses and permits were up by $20 million; insurance company tax receipts rose by $12.9 million and tax refunds paid by the state dropped by $14.1 million, Wyman said.
Meanwhile, the state government’s net spending was estimated to be $41.7 million lower than her previous projection.
Wyman will issue her final 2010 budget forecast on Sept. 1, when she officially closes the books on the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Surpluses go into the state’s General Fund, pending lawmakers’ choices about how to allocate the excess collections, officials said.
