The city of Portsmouth’s Sewer Fund continues to be a millstone around the neck of the city’s budget. In the financial report for the month of May, the fund shows a negative balance of $1,093,508, some $754,408 deeper in the hole than it was at the same time last year. The only other negative balance is in the city’s Water Fund, which is $175,413 down compared to being $400,727 in the black last year.

The General Fund showed a balance of $869,682, compared to $91,402 last year. The Streets Fund was at $345,293, compared to $354,003 last year. The Sanitation Fund in May showed a balance of $654,280, up from $307,812 last year and the Insurance Fund was at $102,885 up from $245,904 last year.

“It was a big month for income tax collections,” Portsmouth Auditor Trent Williams said.

The total General Fund income tax collections for May were $1,109,443, up $557,136 from last year in the same month for an accumulated total compare to last year of $1,115,241.

New tax revenue collected from the additional 0.5 percent tax increase for the month of May $222,684.

The total tax collections for May were $1,265,930 which represents an increase of $616,157 over the same month last year for an accumulated total compared to last year of $1,187,157.