At the end of the fiscal year 2022, 53 cities did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.

"Another scorecard ranked California one of the worst states financially. Truth in Accounting’s 14th annual Financial State of the States report scored California 42nd among the 50 states.

"In fiscal 2022, 28 states didn’t have enough revenue to pay all of their bills, according to the 14th annual Financial State of the States report, published by the Chicago-based nonprofit Truth in Accounting.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states based on the latest available data from states’ fiscal year 2022 annual comprehensive financial reports.

New Jersey ranked last for having the worst fiscal health and the greatest taxpayer burden. Not far behind was Connecticut, followed by Illinois, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, California and Vermont in the bottom ten.

By contrast, 22 states reported surpluses, the majority of which are led by Republican governors."

"Illinois is touting its rainy day fund, which has recently passed the $2 billion mark. However, some financial analysts say the state is lying to itself about its finances.

After an $11.5 million deposit, Illinois' Rainy Day Fund is now $2.005 billion, up from $48,000 in 2017, which would have only allowed the state to run properly for 30 seconds."

"(The Center Square) - The city of Los Angeles' controller had a message for city officials: you aren’t spending enough.

The controller put out a recent report for 2023 that said while spending has increased 35% over the past six years, the city isn’t spending all of its revenues.

"The City is not spending what it is budgeting for which means less services, resources, and infrastructure are being provided for Angelenos," the controller’s October report stated."

"(The Center Square) — South Carolina doesn’t produce budget stress tests or a long-term budget assessment, and a non-profit group says the Palmetto State, like others nationwide, should start preparing for economic uncertainty.

According to a report from Pew Charitable Trusts, 15 states have developed long-term budget assessments, while 13 have performed budget stress tests.

In recent years, states have benefited from an influx of federal aid and better-than-anticipated tax revenues. However, Pew experts say state leaders should prepare for more budget shocks."

"A new report from the nonpartisan organization truth in accounting reveals the fiscal condition of each state, Maryland received a "D" ranking. 

CEO of Openthebooks.com, Adam Andrzejewski, joins Fox45 Morning Show to break this down for us."

Now Available

Our annual report on state fiscal health. Debt among the states improved slightly. Going from $1.2 trillion down to $938.6 billion. 

What happened? 

How did your state do? Read the full report below. 

https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-state-of-the-states-2023

"(The Center Square) — According to a new report, Louisianans might need to dig deeper into their couch cushions to fund their share of the state's debt.

According to the nonpartisan Truth in Accounting's annual Financial State of the States report, each Louisiana resident owes $18,900 to pay off the state's debts. The report ranked Louisiana 43rd, saying the state owes $22.8 billion, and gave the state a D grade having a taxpayer burden between $5,000 and $20,000. 

The state, according to Truth in Accounting, has $27.4 billion in assets and cash on hand to pay $50.2 billion in bills, including $13.3 billion in bond debt, $10.3 billion in unfunded pension debt and $9.9 billion in unfunded health care costs for state and local retirees."

Every year, for the past fourteen years, Truth in Accounting has released its Financial State of the States report which examines the financial status of the fifty states. This year our report was released on October 11, 2023. One of the data sets we reviewed is the auditors’ reports. Did the state receive an unmodified report for  their Annual Comprehensive Financial Report? Last year I wrote an article for Accounting Today explaining which states did not meet auditing standards for 2021. This is a follow-up to that article.