Tax Receipts

THOUGH A $10 MILLION surplus is chump change in a $13 billion state budget, any surplus ranks as a substantial accomplishment for Maryland officials. The state's economy in the fiscal year ending June 30 provided a better cushion than expected, especially given the seismic shocks that had hit Maryland -- two federal shutdowns, continuing federal downsizing and a severe winter blizzard that brought everything to a standstill.Signs of a recovery began in the final three months of that fiscal year.

State Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein says consumer confidence is climbing in Maryland.Marylanders' optimism is reflected in the 3 percent jump in Maryland sales- and use-tax receipts of $169 million in June, up $5.4 million from a year ago, he said yesterday."

The Maryland Stadium Authority yesterday approved an agreement to take over management of Memorial Stadium from Baltimore City during the two seasons it will be used by the Ravens.The agreement calls for the MSA to bring the facility up to NFL standards. A $2 million budget for the work was approved last year by the General Assembly, and $900,000 has been spent, in part to refurbish the facility for the Canadian Football League Stallions.The MSA also will operate the stadium during games, at an estimated cost of $1.8 million a year.

Md. sales, use tax receipts up 12%State sales and use tax revenues totaled $160.6 million in November, a 12 percent increase over the same month last year, Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein said yesterday.Sales of computers and related products and services led the increase, Mr. Goldstein said, bringing in more than $3.1 million in tax revenues last month, a 43 percent increase.Sporting goods and toy stores generated more than $2.7 million in tax receipts last month, up 6.3 percent, while other holiday gift-related categories such as card sales also showed improvement.

Paul Kuppalli is in a holiday rush -- not to buy gifts but to put them on the shelves of his downtown shop.Last week, he opened Manasa's Cards & Gifts at 19 S. Charles St., a location that once housed a bank branch office. Now he's in a race against time to display calendars, boxed chocolates and porcelain dolls so office workers can buy them as Christmas presents for colleagues or as last-minute gifts for the family.The 48-year-old Harford County resident, who has run a similar store in the 200 block of E. Baltimore St. for seven years, has a simple explanation for his decision to open another: "To make money."

An Annapolis activist filed suit yesterday alleging that since 1967, the county has wrongfully kept $11.6 million in cigarette tax revenues that it should have been turning over to the city of Annapolis.Sylvanus B. Jones, a retired U.S. State Department employee, alleges in the suit that the Anne Arundel County Council overstepped its legal authority in the mid-1960s when it repealed state laws requiring the county to turn over a portion of its tobacco tax receipts to the city.County Attorney Judson P. Garrett said the dispute stems from whether the county had the authority to repeal state laws when it enacted the county charter in 1965.

Maryland's state government raked in 5.8 percent more money in personal and corporate income taxes during the fiscal year that ended June 30, Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein reported yesterday.He said the increase over fiscal 1993 -- driven by a 31.4 percent jump in corporate income taxes -- is proof that Maryland is shaking off the after-effects of the recession. The total was slightly higher than state projections.But the announcement met with skepticism from economists, who said the rebound in corporate tax receipts was so sharp only because the recession was so deep here.

Howard County negotiators and police have reached a tentative two-year agreement that would give police a 2.5 percent merit increase on the anniversary of their employment.Police also would receive an additional 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise in January if county revenue rises sufficiently.The agreement would add no work days to the officers' current schedule, which the county had sought to do. Police had argued that the proposed 25 extra days would cut into their backup jobs and increase personal expenses for day care and transportation.

When the Board of Estimates received the Schmok administration's proposal for a $2.072 billion budget yesterday, the following exchange took place between City Council President Mary Pat Clarke and Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean.MPC: "The recession is officially over."JFM: "Who said so?"MPC: "The budget did."JFM: "No, it isn't, either."The local and national economy are sure to have many bumps ahead but the city budget proposal assumes smooth going for the municipal government. It expects public services to be continued without major cuts.

Maryland would lose $7 million in state income tax revenues by 1995 as a result of President Clinton's proposal to freeze federal workers' salaries and cut their cost-of-living increases, according to state officials.William S. Ratchford II, director of the Department of Fiscal Services, said yesterday that state officials estimated the Clinton proposal would begin to be felt in the fiscal year that ends in June 1994."We think the cost impact over the next fiscal year will be $3 million," said Mr. Ratchford.