General Fund has 1st-quarter surplus> Revenue exceeds projections

AUGUSTA — Maine’s General Fund ran ahead of projections during the first quarter of fiscal 1994 by 3.2 percent, officials said Friday.

The state took in nearly $162 million last month, barely above estimates. But that put revenue for the first three months of the new fiscal year ahead of projections by almost $13 million, the McKernan administration said.

First-quarter surpluses were registered in the sales, individual income and corporate income tax lines, despite a $1.8 million drop below estimate in September’s individual income tax receipts.

Gov. John R. McKernan dismissed that monthly decline as an aberration and cited aggregate receipts in the three lines from July through September as a sign of “modest growth in Maine’s economy.

“We will be carefully watching these lines in the upcoming months and see whether these trends continue,” McKernan said in his monthly revenue report.

For the three-month period, undedicated General Fund revenue reached $419.3 million. Sales tax receipts of $169.8 million were 1.3 percent ahead of projections and individual income tax collections of $158.5 million were 3.4 percent above estimate.

Corporate income tax receipts for the quarter of $17.6 million were nearly 46 percent higher than anticipated. Collections of $13 million from a new gross receipts tax, however, were lagging 8.4 percent under budget.

September collections overall were nearly on target, running above estimate by 0.8 percent.

The slight monthly gain was led by sales tax receipts that totaled $57 million, which was $2.9 million, or 5.4 percent, higher than anticipated. The General Fund also picked up $1.1 million more than expected from the corporate income tax for the month.

The state anticipates taking in nearly $1.6 million through the fiscal year.

In addition to net General Fund receipts, $7 million for the month was set aside for distribution to cities and towns under the state revenue-sharing program. Officials said revenue-sharing funds set aside through the first quarter totaled nearly $18.6 million.

The Friday revenue report was expected to be taken up by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Monday, until the panel scrubbed its October session and decided not to meet until November.