State tax collections increased by 8.3 percent in May compared to the same month last year, keeping Virginia ahead of its official revenue forecast heading into the final month of the fiscal year.

In a report issued this morning, Secretary of Finance Ric Brown said general fund revenue collections have increased by 6.2 percent through the first 11 months of the fiscal year. That exceeds the 4.5 percent growth forecast embedded in the state budget.

In a memo to Gov. Bob McDonnell, Brown said the state will have to take in $1.8 billion during June to meet the official revenue forecast. The state collected $1.9 billion last June, he said. Virginia has finished each of the last two fiscal years with revenue surpluses.

Brown said strong individual income tax collections — which were helped by an extra deposit day — drove the May revenue surge. Individual income taxes increased by 7.4 percent over the same period last year.

You can read Brown’s full memo here and dig through the numbers here.

–Michael Sluss