South Dakota state government closed the 2018 budget year on June 30 with a surplus marking the seventh consecutive year of spending less than appropriated. The state general fund budget for fiscal year (FY) 2018 ended with lower expenditures and higher revenues than budgeted.
Sales and use tax receipts, the state’s largest revenue source, finished the fiscal year growing 4 percent over the prior fiscal year. Collections from the sales and use tax accounted for 61 percent of total general fund receipts in FY 2018.
Other sources of revenue with notable increases were the insurance company tax and lottery revenue, which grew 9.3 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, over FY 2017. Ongoing receipts to the general fund totaled $1,593.4 million, which grew 3.4 percent compared to the previous year.
State agencies demonstrated fiscal restraint by spending $10.7 million, or 0.67 percent, less than appropriated. Additionally, revenue for FY 2018 exceeded estimates adopted by the legislature last March by $6.2 million, or 0.38 percent. In total, the state’s budget for FY 2018 ended with a $16.9 million surplus.
South Dakota state government ended FY 2018 by transferring $16.9 million to the Budget Reserve Fund, as required by law. The state’s Budget Reserve Fund now has a $132.4 million balance and the General Revenue Replacement Fund has a $44.0 million balance. The combination of those two funds, totaling $176.4 million, represents a combined reserve of 11.1 percent of the total general fund budget for FY 2018.
