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
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"Sobering Statistics
The study, called Financial State of the Cities 2023, was done by Truth in Accounting. It has some difficult truths: 50 out of 75 cities could not pay their bills; the combined debt for all 75 cities is $267 billion. Moreover, elected officials didn’t include the cost of government in this figure, instead pushing it onto future taxpayers."
This year's report found that 31 states did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.
By Aaron Adelson, includes “Florida's Auditor General sent the city of Gainesville 18 preliminary findings after an in-depth investigation into the city of Gainesville's finances, at times finding ‘Significant deficiencies or material weaknesses.’ … the Auditor found major issues with the city's controls over financial reporting including unreconciled bank statements and accounts that were misstated. ”
To encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information, Truth in Accounting has created a transparency score for financial reporting by the states.
By Jay Cridlin (Tampa Bay Times), includes “… Inflation hasn’t slowed Florida’s booming housing and real estate industry, even as costs keep rising. But that has ripple effects, especially in a state where the median household income sits below the national average.” (Note: I was skeptical of the Florida median household income claim, but then I looked it up.)
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Truth in Accounting's twelfth annual Financial State of the States report, a nationwide analysis of the most recent state government financial information.
By TIA intern Joshua Terry, whose last day is today (Thanks for all the great hard work, Josh!) includes “… Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have smaller Taxpayer Burdens compared to New York, California, and Illinois. There certainly may be other factors at play here, as Texas isn't too far off of New York or even California with its Taxpayer Burden.”
Earlier last month, the IRS released the 2019 migration data for adjusted gross income (AGI) that showed a departure in the billions of dollars of taxable income from New York, California, and Illinois. These three states experienced the most outflow of AGI in 2019, while Florida, Texas, and Arizona gained the most AGI. The IRS included a breakdown of this migration by age group:.
By Francisco Alvarado, includes “Village of Pinecrest officials are ramming through an $11.4-million proposal that would connect roughly 700 properties that currently use water wells to the Miami-Dade water system. ”
Radio segment, story by Kerry Sheridan in includes “…Corcoran had previously said that emergency relief cash would not be an acceptable solution. ‘If there is a thought to solving this recurring financial issue by using one-time stabilization funds, I strongly encourage you to remember that fixing a long-term problem by using a short-term resolution will not get the district on solid ground,’ Corcoran wrote in a letter to the school board dated April 22.”
By Roger Russell, includes “Florida, one of the last two holdout states to enact economic nexus legislation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision on taxing online sales, has finally passed a bill that applies sales tax collection requirements to remote sellers and marketplace facilitators.”
By Isaac Morgan, includes “With just a few days left in the 2021 legislative session and COVID-19 still infecting and killing Floridians, the Legislature will not fully utilize federal coronavirus relief funds from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. About $3.5 billion will be used to bolster the state’s reserves rather than provide programs and initiatives to help Floridians …”
By Greg Fox, includes “The future of Florida's massive pension system for state and local government workers is now on the line. The Florida Senate passed a measure that would strip pensions for new hires beginning next year.”
By Mary Ellen Klas, Kirby Wilson and Lawrence Mower, includes “After a decade of honing their skills as budget cutters, Florida’s Republican legislative leaders are having a hard time deciding how to spend.”
The Florida state Senate has passed a bill that would eliminate the option for nearly all new state employees to participate in a defined benefit (DB) plan, instead requiring them to join a defined contribution (DC) plan.
By Dylan Lyons, includes “Florida teachers and K-12 support staff are fighting to save their pension. They believe Senate Bill 84 will cause them to lose something they were promised, their defined benefits pension. Instead, new employees would have to enroll in a 401(k) style retirement plan. ‘Part of us going into teaching is not about the money. It is about kids.’ …”
Includes “… The legislation modernizes the Florida Retirement System (FRS) by closing the pension plan (defined benefit) to new enrollees … ‘We have seen examples in other states of how quickly conditions can change and a government can experience financial crisis under the weight of its future retirement obligations.”