Montana revenue beats estimates, state treasury $455M in the black

A leading Republican legislator also said Friday that the revenue picture means Montana’s economy is strong, but he’s disappointed that the Legislature voted down an infrastructure bill when the money was clearly available.

“Rather than $400 million of (surplus), had we passed the infrastructure bill about $100 million of those dollars would be invested in building Montana projects instead of sitting in an account,” said Sen. Llew Jones of Conrad. “We were one vote short of being able to put a bunch of money to work.”

Some Republicans in the Montana House blocked the infrastructure-investment bill, which failed on the final day of the 2015 Legislature in April.

Montana’s treasury closed out its most recent fiscal year $455 million in the black, beating legislative estimates – and the Bullock administration says it’s not surprised.

"We were fairly adamant that income tax was going to be a big driver (in revenue), because we have an unprecedented number of people working in the state," state Budget Director Dan Villa said Friday.

By Mike Dennison – MTN News

Full Story: http://www.kpax.com/story/30119238/state-revenue-beats-estimates-treasury-455m-in-the-black