REPORT

OF THE

COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY

OF THE

STATE OF MARYLAND

August 31, 1943.
To His Excellency
HERBERT R. O'CONOR,
Governor of Maryland.

I present herewith, in pursuance of the provisions of Section 9
of Article 19 on the Annotated Code of Maryland a report of the
fiscal operations of the State of Maryland for the nine months' per-
iod from October 1, 1942, to June 30, 1943. The termination of the
fiscal period at June 30th is in conformity with action taken at the
1943 Session of the General Assembly changing the fiscal year, so
that in the future the year will begin July 1st and end June 30th.
The State's fiscal year now coincides with the fiscal year of a majority
of the states as well as that of the Federal Government. The change
was made primarily to allow more time for the preparation of the
budget, since in the past the time between October 1st and the
convening of the General Assembly in January did not permit a full
study being made of budget requests, revenue estimates and
other matters entering into the preparation of the budget.

The State was fortunate in having at the close of the fiscal period a
surplus somewhat larger than what was estimated in the budget
passed at the 1941 Session of the General Assembly, originally
intended for the biennium ending September 30,1943, but terminated
at June 30, 1943, by action of the 1943 Session as above mentioned.
The surplus in the general fund at June 30,1943, was $12,600,931.95,
or more than ten million dollars in excess of the working fund of two
million dollars which it has been customary for the State to carry.
This increase in surplus was due to two things; the revenues exceed-
ing estimates and reverting of unused appropriations.

The budget passed at the 1943 Session of the General Assembly
makes appropriations for maintenance of the State Government for
the biennium beginning July 1, 1943 and ending June 30,1945. The
unusual demands upon the State Treasury during that period caused
appropriations to exceed estimated revenues, resulting in the use of
a large part of the excess surplus existing at June 30, 1943. The
fiscal picture for the next biennium may be summarized as follows:
Surplus June 30, 1943.................................................... $12,600,931.95

Estimated receipts in fiscal year end-
ing June 30, 1944................................ $23,841,046.00

Estimated expenditures in fiscal

year ending June 30, 1944............ 30,379,306.85 6,538,260.85*