State government finished the 2015-2016 fiscal year with a $243 million surplus, a preliminary report from the governor's office said Tuesday.
The report came in the Joint Legislative Budget Committee's monthly fiscal highlights report, which said the surplus, which the report called "the FY 2016 ending balance," was about $21 million more than estimated a month earlier. The final figure will be reported this fall.
It's the second straight year of state government surpluses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Last year, the state reported a $325 million surplus for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
That and the anticipated surplus for the next fiscal year led Gov. Doug Ducey and the Legislature to increase budget spending for schools, welfare, child protection and other services, most for the first time since the recession.
The budget committee report said the surplus figure will be incorporated into the latest revenue estimates, which will be released Oct. 5 at the Legislature's Finance Advisory Committee meeting.
Tuesday's report also revealed a 5.2 percent increase in state tax and fees revenues in August, reversing a slow start to the fiscal year in July. The $37.5 million more in revenues than budgeted was driven mostly by higher individual income tax withholdings.