Top Analysts: California to Leave January $5B Ahead - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California's budget is on pace to finish January $5 Billion ahead for the month, according to a report by California's top Fiscal Review Office.

The Sacramento bee reports the Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office told them the boost would be based on record income tax payments for the last quarter in 2012, paid to the state in the middle of January.

The Bee says a mix of rare state and federal tax changes that affect top earners is essentially the reason behind the boost.

The news comes just weeks after Governor Jerry Brown announced that California's budget deficit was gone after years of financial turmoil.