TOPEKA — Kansas is reporting that its tax collections continued to be a little better than expected in August.

The Department of Revenue said Tuesday that the state collected $497 million in taxes last month when its official revenue forecast predicted $494 million. The surplus was nearly $3 million, or 0.6%.

It was the second month of the state’s 2020 budget year, and tax collections for July and August together were nearly $5 million more than anticipated for a 0.5 percent surplus. The state collected $993 million during the two-month period.

The state also collected about $993 million in taxes during July and August 2018.

Tax collections have exceeded expectations 26 of the past 27 months.