Governor: Montana Ends Fiscal Year with another Historic Ending Fund Balance

Governor Brian Schweitzer announced today that the State of Montana ended the last fiscal year with more than $453 million ending fund balance, the 2nd highest fund balance in state history. The ending fund balance is the amount of undesignated, unreserved funds remaining at year end (June 30, 2012) after the state pays its obligations.

Montana has had the highest ending fund balances in the state’s history under Governor Schweitzer with an average fund balance of $414 million. The average fund balance of the eighteen years prior was $54 million.

As of today, the State of Montana has $496 million cash in the bank.

"This is another banner year for Montana and our fiscal well being. We have $485 million in the bank today," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. "This is a testament to the hard-working people across the state that, despite the national downturn, have tightened their belts, buckled down and put Montana in a great position for generations to come."

State revenue continues to be strong. Total General Fund revenues were $1.871 billion. This is in contrast with the pre-session legislative revenue estimate of $1.754 billion about a 10-percent difference.

Full Story: http://www.matr.net/files/StatesFiscalCondition.pdf