REPORT

OF THE

COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY

OF THE

STATE OF MARYLAND

December 27th, 1934.
To the Honorable,

The General Assembly of Maryland:

Section 9 of Article 19 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
directs that the Comptroller of the Treasury submit an annual
report of the fiscal affairs of the State, and in accordance there-
with I present for your consideration report for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 1934.

In doing so it is most necessary that I direct your attention to
important changes that have taken place during the fiscal year
just closed, pertaining to the State's financial condition. At the
beginning of the fiscal year, October 1st, 1933, the State was pos-
sessed of an operating surplus of $1,680,316.99. For the year just
closed, September 30th, 1934, this surplus had been reduced to
$156,877.97, as shown by Statement "C" of this report.

This decrease in the operating surplus, in my opinion, is due to
the economic depression through which the country has been
passing, and which was not felt in Maryland until the fiscal year
which has just closed. In 1932, prior to the passage of the Budget
in the 1933 Session, conservative estimates of revenues were pre-
pared, as shown by Statement "P," Page 45, of the Comptroller's
Report for 1932, and revised in the Comptroller's Report for the
year 1933, as shown by Statement "P," Page 45. Many of the
principal items failed to produce the estimated revenue for the
fiscal year ended September 30th, 1934, thus bringing about a
great decrease in operating surplus.

Starting with the fiscal year 1935, beginning October 1st, 1934,
and basing our calculations upon recent experiences, it is our
opinion that the entire surplus of $156,877.97, as of September
30th, 1934, will be wiped out and a deficit of $2,229,000 will
develop by the end of the fiscal year, September 30th, 1935.