Topeka ? The Kansas treasury will receive approximately $40 million as part of negotiations in disputed tax cases, Kansas Department of Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon said Monday.

“I think we got the best deal for the taxpayers,” Wagnon said. “We did not have a fire sale.”

The news comes as state agencies struggle to deal with budget cuts amid dwindling tax revenues.

Auditors and attorneys for the Revenue Department helped clear disputed corporate income tax, sales tax and privilege tax cases, Wagnon said.

These were cases that had been in dispute for several years with legitimate claims on both sides, Wagnon said.

The collection of taxes made December corporate income tax look better than expected.

Still the Legislature faces an approximately $300 million budget shortfall when it starts the 2010 session on Monday.

In 2003, Wagnon oversaw a tax amnesty program that brought in about $25 million in unpaid taxes.