Massachusetts ended the fiscal year
with a $712 million surplus after individual income and corporate
taxes rose, increasing revenue by 6.5 percent, and supporting
Governor Mitt Romney’s call to cut taxes, Bloomberg News reports.
Massachusetts has the second-highest tax-
supported debt per capita among U.S. states. This is the second year in a row it posted a year end surplus.
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The state’s
tax revenue for fiscal 2004, ended June 30, was $15.94 billion,
up from $14.96 billion the year before.
Income tax collections, the state’s largest revenue source,
increased 10 percent from last year to $8.83 billion. Sales and
use taxes rose 1.1 percent to $3.75 billion. Corporate and
business tax revenue rose 9.5 percent to $1.68 billion.
Romney spokeswoman Nicole St. Peter said the surplus
bolsters the Republican governor’s belief that the state’s income
tax should be cut from 5.3 percent to 5 percent. The rate was
frozen by the Legislature at 5.3 percent in 2002 because of
falling state revenue even though voters in a statewide
referendum approved lower the rate.
Democrats, who control the Legislature, oppose cutting
taxes and want the surplus to be used to replenish budget
reserves.
Bloomberg News
