State Finishes Year with Surprising Surplus

South Carolina has again ended the fiscal year with a higher-than-expected surplus, handing legislators an additional $32 million to distribute next year.

The fiscal-year closing report issued Wednesday by the state’s chief accountant shows South Carolina’s coffers collected more than enough to fund every item on the Legislature’s priority list for surplus revenue. That $235 million list includes $6.5 million to cover what some school districts otherwise would have lost due to education funding formula changes.

It is the second consecutive year that the surplus exceeded estimates.

State Comptroller Richard Eckstrom says state revenue grew by 2.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30. He says that means the state’s economy grew slower than in 2012-13, when the rate was a more robust 9.1 percent.