Virginia Budget in the Black

The Washington Examiner reports that Virginia has successfully balanced its budget and even has a surplus:

Virginia will end up in the black for fiscal 2010 after reporting surprisingly robust revenue from tax receipts and cutting government spending, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday.

McDonnell estimated that the surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30 will be at least $220 million after miscellaneous interest payments are made. The final figure will be made official in August after year-end adjustments.

“We didn’t overbudget; we didn’t overspend,” McDonnell said at a news conference Wednesday.

In January, the commonwealth had been facing a $1.8 billion budget shortfall for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ended June 30.

“It’s certainly good news,” said Del. Kirk Cox, R-Chesterfield, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “We tried to be very prudent.”

About $82 million of the surplus will go toward a one-time, 3 percent bonus for state employees, who haven’t received a raise in nearly four years. Ten percent will be set aside for Virginia’s Water Quality Fund, about $19 million will go toward K-12 education, and two-thirds of the undesignated balance will go toward transportation, McDonnell said.

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