South Dakota state government closed the 2013 budget year on June 30 with a surplus, Governor Dennis Daugaard announced Monday. The state general fund budget for Fiscal Year 2013 ended with higher revenues and lower expenditures than budgeted. Revenue growth for the completed 2013 fiscal year exceeded estimates adopted by the legislature last March by $13.6 million. In addition, state agencies also demonstrated fiscal restraint, spending $10.6 million less than appropriated. In total, the state's financial picture improved by $24.2 million from the March fiscal year 2013 estimates. South Dakota's sales and use tax receipts, the state's largest revenue source, finished the fiscal year well, growing nearly 6 percent in the month of June, indicating an economy that continues to expand. Sales and use tax collections in FY2013 totaled $766,095,539, which was 4.26 percent - or $31.7 million - above the previous year. Collections from the sales and use tax accounted for 57 percent of general fund receipts in FY2013. Jason Dilges, South Dakota's Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Finance and Management, talks about the surplus.
South Dakota's 2013 Fiscal Year Budget
