Topeka ? State tax collections in July nearly met expectations, officials said Wednesday, calling the numbers “pretty good” news after revenue collections fell short in previous months.

Economic forecasters had predicted that the state would collect $328.9 million in July, the first month of the 2004 fiscal year. Actual collections were $326.4 million, according to preliminary numbers from the state Budget Division.

Ann Durkes, principal analyst for the division, said the $2.5 million difference was “incredibly small.” The revenue forecast, made in April, predicted $4.3 billion in tax collections during the entire fiscal year.

“That’s actually pretty good,” she said of the difference. “It could have been a whole lot worse.”

The positive assessment of tax collections was the second in as many months. The state learned last month that tax collections were better than expected in June, the last month of fiscal 2003.

The state collected about $443 million in tax revenues in June, when it anticipated collecting $434 million. The difference is $9 million, or about 2.1 percent.

And, with additional aid from the federal government, the state took in about as much money as it expected for all of fiscal 2003, about $4.23 billion in general revenues.

Before June’s figures and the federal aid, the state’s budget picture looked bleaker. At the end of May, revenues for fiscal 2003, were $54 million short of expectations.

If fiscal 2004 revenue estimates continue to prove accurate, the state won’t face cutting money from the budget legislators approved during this past session.