HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state government had another better-than-expected revenue collection month in May, and on Wednesday it headed into the final month of the fiscal year with a nearly $540 million surplus as the debate intensifies in the Capitol over the depth of spending cuts being sought by Gov. Tom Corbett.

Legislative budget analysts said the state’s updated revenue collection figure through the end of May was 2 percent, or about $34 million, over the official estimate. That means the state has collected almost $24.3 billion through 11 months, or 2.3 percent above the official estimate.

However, the state continues to face a projected multibillion-dollar budget deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1, largely because of the disappearing federal stimulus money that temporarily helped buttress the state’s recession-wracked tax collections.

But with Corbett seeking $2.6 billion in spending cuts to balance the budget, May’s rosy revenue report adds fuel to arguments by Democrats — and even some Republican senators — that the state can afford to spend more to ease proposed cuts in aid to public schools and state-supported universities, hospital care for the poor and other areas.

House Democrats said the revenue collections mean the state government can put another $1 billion into the 2011-12 budget, and they also expect June to deliver strong revenue collections.

“With only one month to go in the fiscal year, the governor and many House Republicans would rather stick their heads in the sand than acknowledge the fiscal reality that’s as clear as the nose on my face,” House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said in a statement.

In the meantime, public school districts, particularly the state’s poorest, are preparing to lay off staff, close school buildings, raise property taxes and eliminate programs, such as full-day kindergarten, to absorb about $1 billion, or more than 10 percent, in proposed state school aid cuts.

On Tuesday, Harrisburg’s school board adopted a temporary budget plan that would mean closing four school buildings and laying off more than 20 percent of its teachers, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported.

Corbett has maintained that the state must spend no more than the $27.3 billion that he proposed in March, and he has said he opposes any tax increase. Last week, the Republican-controlled House approved a $27.3 billion budget bill that does not increase taxes and leaves nearly the entire surplus untouched. Every Democrat and two Republicans opposed it.

The bill is under consideration in the Senate, which reconvenes next week. Leaders of the Senate’s Republican majority have clashed with Corbett over spending and say there’s no compelling reason to hoard the surplus while public schools and hospitals suffer.

In a public appearance Tuesday before an audience of Philadelphia-area business leaders, Corbett acknowledged the complaints over his spending plan, but insisted that it shouldn’t surprise anyone.

“I campaigned on this,” he said, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report. “I believe everybody wanted me to keep my word, they just didn’t want me to keep my word as it pertained to them.”