Florida's most recent Single Audit—which reviews compliance with federal grant requirements—raises red flags about the management of substantial federal dollars allocated to public health programs.
States face a significant loss of federal dollars as temporary pandemic-related programs that were initiated in 2020 come to an end and national fiscal pressures rise.
Our sixteenth annual Financial State of the States (FSOS) report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states.
Meanwhile, a big-picture view of local finances, via the watchdogs at Truth in Accounting, suggests that the city council is as complicit as the mayor in not reining in big spending at the expense of the future.
Earlier this year, the group reported a per capita debt of nearly $10,000 for every person in the city, which puts Jacksonville 60th out of 75 cities ranked.
In the spirit of promoting clear and accurate fiscal information, Truth in Accounting has once again assessed the transparency of state governments’ financial reporting. While state budgets receive most of the public and media’s attention, their outcomes are detailed in each government's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), which is audited annually by certified public accountants. Our transparency score is based on key criteria outlining best practices, offering government officials and citizens a roadmap to enhance fiscal transparency and accountability.
Our fifteenth annual Financial State of the States (FSOS) report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states.
A national group dedicated to honest accounting and citizen education is not sold on Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s plan for the Jaguars‘ stadium.
Sheila A. Weinberg, the founder of Truth in Accounting, says the city is neglecting fiscal realities in favor of speculative and elective spending.
"Action News Jax Investigates is looking into whether the City of Jacksonville can afford a new stadium following a new report by a nonprofit government financial watchdog that says the city is spending tomorrow’s money today in an unsustainable fashion."
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
|
|
"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. ”