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St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - The most recent state revenue update shows tax collections in February and March beat expectations by a wide margin.

The Minnesota Office of Management and Budget says net general revenues for the two months exceeded $3.3 billion. That is $563 million or over 20 percent above the amount predicted by the state revenue forecast that was updated in February.

Much of the better than expected revenue total was due to individual income tax payments, which came in a bit above $1.47 billion, or more $322 million higher than forecast. Corporate tax payments exceeded the projection by over $170 million and general sales tax revenues were $31 million above the forecast.

The report notes the economic outlook for the U.S. economy has improved in the weeks since the February state revenue forecast was released. It says the nation's gross domestic product is projected to rise 6.2 percent this year and 4.3 percent in 2022. Stronger than expected consumer spending and the faster-than-expected rollout of COVID-19 vaccines were credited for the improvement.

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LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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