Meanwhile, across the Saint Croix

Interesting tidbit from Minnesota at the end of this week, and I didn't see this news make its way too far east.

MINNEAPOLIS — State tax collections beat expectations for the final three months of the fiscal year, and Minnesota is now expected to finish the fiscal year with $168 million more in revenues than projected in February, state finance officials said Thursday...

According to the quarterly update, state revenues for April, May and June were $235 million more than forecast. That followed a few months of disappointing figures.

Minnesota Management and Budget said the state raised $181 million more in individual income taxes than expected during the quarter. Most of that was because Minnesotans paid more in 2013 income taxes than expected, and tax refunds were below estimates.

Sales tax revenues also exceeded forecasts. While corporate tax collections were $53 million less than expected, officials say big swings in corporate taxes are not unusual.

By contrast, us in Wisconsin didn't get surging income tax revenues, and are now around $200 million in the hole, with a real possiblity of that number growing higher (if blog groupie GeoffT's numbers bear out).

Of course, Minnesota also didn't blow their 2013 budget surplus on Koo-Koo tax cuts, and it let them remain fiscally sound through a polar vortex winter and the country's decline in 1st Quarter GDP. By comparison, us in Wisconsin have $2 billion in deficits projected for 2015, and a few hundred million that'll likely have to be filled just to pay the bills early next year. But we apparently do have enough around to triple the amount of money spent on our "Unintimidated" Governor's security detail and have Walker cronies get jobs they have no formal experience in, and get paid 31% above the previous person that had the job.

Minnesota is run entirely by Dems, and Wisconsin is run entirely by Republicans. Any questions?