“Millions of Reasons to Be Cautiously Optimistic”

California collected $6 billion int ax revenue in November, missing estimates in the state budget by $375.6 million, or 5.9 percent, State Controller John Chiang said December 10 in his monthly report covering the state’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements for last month.

The main reason revenues fell below estimates was simply timing, Chiang said, noting that during the current fiscal year which began July 1, revenues are running ahead of predictions in last June’s budget by nearly $230 million.State spending for same period is also  $126.3 million less than expected, Chiang said. 

With the Thanksgiving holiday and the “Black Friday” weekend occurring at the end of November, $440 million of sales tax revenue from November sales wasn’t recorded until the first few days of December.

“Revenue collections through the first five months of this fiscal year provide us with millions of reasons to be cautiously optimistic about California’s near-term fiscal outlook,” Chiang said in a statement. “However, unless we remain disciplined with our spending and pay down the billions of debt accrued during the Great Recession, even a modest swing in our economy could return us to deficit budgets.”