The state’s phone-subsidy fund ran a surplus.

Despite the surplus, the state Public Utilities Commission decided to continue for another year a 4% tax on the gross revenues of 90 long-distance telephone companies’ California operations. The tax fuels a year-old fund that reimburses local telephone companies for providing basic service at half the normal rate to households claiming annual income of less than $11,000. The tax raised $36.6 million, furnishing $19.1 million in subsidies and leaving a $17.5-million surplus.