AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul LePage touted a state budget surplus of $175.8 million Monday, noting that Maine had concluded the fiscal year well in the black.

LePage credited his administration’s sound fiscal management for the surplus. He said $74.6 million of the surplus has been allocated to the state’s next two-year budget and $76.2 million to the state’s so-called “rainy day” or budget stabilization account. Another $19 million was sent to an account aimed at reducing Maine’s income tax rate.

“Our philosophy is simple: Mainers expect a government that can live within its means,” LePage said in a prepared statement. “Today’s news reinforces the success of that philosophy and will provide my successor with the ability to focus on making investments in the future of our state rather than filling budget gaps.”

The state’s rainy day fund now has a record balance of $272.9 million, according to LePage’s finance commissioner, Alec Porteous.

“That represents more than six-times the fund’s balance in 2012,” Porteous said, also in a prepared statement. “Having this money in the bank provides an important backstop for sustained government operations in the event of a financial downturn.”

Maine Gov. Paul LePage