HELENA – A legislative fiscal analyst says Montana has ended the 2009 fiscal year with a budget surplus of nearly $23 million more than expected.
Terry Johnson says the preliminary general fund budget surplus was about $392 million, primarily because some state agencies didn’t spend all the money allotted to them for the year. He says that money helped make up for the lower-than-expected tax collections for the year.
The final and official numbers won’t be available until after a legislative audit later this fall.