Illinois ranked as one of the least financially-transparent states in the nation, reports The Center Square.
That’s according to a new report from the nonpartisan watchdog organization Truth in Accounting, based on fiscal year 2018 data, the most recent year available.
Illinois was listed as the ninth-worst state in the country, scoring 72 out of 100 possible points. The state was marked down for the late delivery of its annual documents.
“They issued their financial report some 418 days after their fiscal year-end,” said Sheila Weinberg, CEO and founder of Truth In Accounting. “The standard policy for that is 180 days. We’re obviously far from that 180-day criteria, and unfortunately, Illinois was the very last state to issue their financial report.”
Weinberg said the consequences of that delay could be far-reaching because decisions in Springfield could have been made without a proper understanding of the state’s financial numbers.
“We really think that it would be very valuable during the budget process for the elected officials to look at the financial condition of the state before they make additional spending and tax policy,” Weinberg said. “But unfortunately this audited financial report was not available during the budget process because it was issued so late.”
The organization measures each state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report against a framework of best practices. The scores are based on eight criteria: Accessibility, searchability, if the states used an outside auditor, the auditor’s opinion, timeliness of the report, percentage of off-balance sheet liabilities, pension data timing, and deferred items.
Weinberg said Illinois’ score was further harmed by the failure to have an external auditor look at the numbers.
