Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said the commonwealth could end the 2010 fiscal year with a surplus.
This comes after the governor and his administration, as recently as March, made deep cuts to the budget to avoid a $4 billion deficit.
On Monday the McDonnell administration said the state would finish the current year (ending June 30) on a positive note, if it can collect $1.7 billion this month.
That may sound like a lot, but last June, Virginia collected $1.5 billion. That makes this month doable, the administration said, since last June was in a "slightly softer economy."
Revenue from retail sales increased 6.5 percent from April to May. It's the first month-to-month increase since November and December 2007.
Despite the positive growth, general tax fund collection was down from April to May by 0.2 percent. May is generally considered a significant month for revenue collection.
Year-to-date, general tax collections are 3.3 percent below what they were in 2009.
