Tennessee general fund revenues have beaten projections by more than a half-billion dollars with one month left in the budget year. State Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes says collections came in at $130 million above estimates in June, which reflects economic activity from the previous month.
Sales tax collections, which make up about two out of three tax dollars collected by the state, beat projections by $26.6 million in the month, while corporate franchise and excise came in at $98 million above estimates.
The June revenues brought the year-to-date surplus to $540 million. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam included about $210 million of that amount in his revised spending plan for the year but wanted to keep the remainder - now about $331 million - in reserve.