The state comptroller reported Thursday that the state's general fund had a $237-million surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30, but it would have been "more than a $1 billion deficit without temporary financial fixes." And the state is still trying to work its way out of a fiscal mess with austerity measures that include some layoffs.
In a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Comptroller Kevin Lembo said the surplus will be used for a $14.5 million towards future retiree health care - a payment he said the state is contractually obligated to make - and to start paying $916 million in "economic recovery notes" that the state issued in 2009.
The figure released Thursday was unaudited; the final, audited figure comes out in January, Lembo's office said.
While tax revenue was up in most areas over the prior year, the state relied on $25 million in fund reserves from the prior year, about $740 million in federal stimulus money, and hundreds of millions in other "one-time measures" to reach the end-of-year surplus, Lembo said.
"Connecticut's outlook this year is more uncertain in light of federal cutbacks and other economic volatility," Lembo warned. "Those temporary lifelines that saved us in Fiscal Year 2011 have disappeared this year. Instead of the significant federal stimulus money that Connecticut received this past fiscal year, Connecticut could face cuts in federal assistance - depending on decisions made by a joint congressional committee charged with cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending. My office will continue to closely scrutinize that federal process - as well as state revenue and spending trends - to identify any concerns."