Virginia ends fiscal year '13 with another surplus
For fourth year in a row, Virginia ends its fiscal year with a surplus, assuring state raises
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia government has ended a budget year in the black, and this time it means state employees get their first pay raise in six years.
Gov. Bob McDonnell's administration announced the $262 million general revenue surplus on Friday. But its final size won't be known until August when unspent agency balances and other cost-control measures are added in.
Employees received one-time bonuses last year and in 2010. This year's raise becomes the first permanent increase in base salaries for state government personnel since 2007, before two years of revenue declines tied to the worst economy since the Great Depression.
Total general revenue collections increased 5.3 percent, easily beating 3.6 percent growth forecast on which budgeted fiscal year 2013 spending was based.
