Barry Boardman, the chief economist for the N.C. General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, told lawmakers Wednesday morning the state already has taken in about $2.5 billion more in tax revenue compared to the last budget year despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Lee Roberts, a former state budget director who now teaches at Duke University, said sales tax revenue and continued income tax collections, along with CARES Act money, are the biggest reasons North Carolina looks poised to stay out of the red. “We would normally see growth year over year in state revenues, but nobody expected back in May 2020 that the economy would continue to grow as strongly in North Carolina during the pandemic,” he said.