Thread: Audit Uncovers $31 Billion in Errors on California's Books

Audit Uncovers $31 Billion in Errors on California's Books



by John Sexton 31 May 2014, 6:04 AM PDT 227 post a comment
An audit of California's books by the Bureau of State Audits has uncovered errors totaling $31 billion.

CBS 13 reported the results of the audit Thursday. It found:

• $7.7 billion – Understated federal trust fund revenues and expenditures
• $653 million – Overstated general fund assets and revenues
• $8 billion – Overstated California State University’s bond debt
• $9.1 billion – Reporting error that understated a public building construction fund

In addition, there was one case in which a figure was reported as $6.2 billion, when it was actually $6.2 million. After reviewing the errors uncovered by the audit, John Corless, a Sacramento State accounting professor, told CBS 13, "Someone’s not using their equipment right, and they’re not using their heads."
Controller John Chiang, who is running for state treasurer this year, refused to speak on camera for the story. His office did acknowledge the errors in a statement which read: "All issues were corrected and identified before the final report was published, and not one cent of taxpayer dollars was affected."

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-C...fornia-s-Books

$31.65 Billion: California Accounting Errors Higher Than Combined GDP of Jamaica, Iceland

May 29, 2014 11:33 PM
Nick Janes

Video T THE page Link:

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The state office in charge of keeping track of California taxpayers’ money made tens of billions of accounting mistakes.
CBS13 added it up and came up with a big number: $31.65 billion in errors. That’s more than the gross domestic product of Iceland and Jamaica combined.
Controller John Chiang’s office is the state’s financial watchdog, but an audit by the Bureau of State Audits claims the office’s accounting is off by billions of dollars.
The audit revealed:

• $7.7 billion – Understated federal trust fund revenues and expenditures
• $653 million – Overstated general fund assets and revenues
• $8 billion – Overstated California State University’s bond debt
• $9.1 billion – Reporting error that understated a public building construction fund

Also there was a deferred tax-revenue figure posted as $6.2 billion when it was actually $6.2 million.
All told, that’s more than $31 billion in mistakes.
Sacramento State accounting professor John Corless agrees with auditors saying those glaring mistakes should have been caught by somebody.
“Someone’s not using their equipment right, and they’re not using their heads,” he said.
Republican consultant Mitch Zak is calling for an investigation.
“It’s offensive as a taxpayer,” he said. “There’s no consideration it appears if they misstate or mismanage my tax dollars that there’s any retribution.”
Chiang is running for state treasurer. His aides refused to go on camera for this story.
They said they concur with the assessment, and they blame high staff turnover and a lack of qualified staff, budget cuts, and late and incorrect data from numerous agencies.
In a statement issued to CBS13, the office says in part “All issues were corrected and identified before the final report was published, and not one cent of taxpayer dollars was affected.”
None of Chiang’s opponents for state treasurer got back to CBS13, nor did the governor’s office.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/...maica-iceland/

How "Accounting Mistakes" Cost California Taxpayers $32 Billion This Year

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/01/2014 20:06 -0400

Spend more than 30 minutes watching TV in California and you will be bombarded by politicians proclaiming they single-handedly balanced the budget, brought prosperity back to the Silicon Valley alone, and turned water into wine. Yet, oddly, there is one thing none of them seem too quick to admit to. As CBS reports, the state office in charge of keeping track of California taxpayers’ money made tens of billions of accounting mistakes. CBS added it up and came up with a big number: $31.65 billion in errors. That’s more than the gross domestic product of Iceland and Jamaica combined.

Video at the Page Link:

As CBS reports,

Controller John Chiang’s office is the state’s financial watchdog, but an audit by the Bureau of State Audits claims the office’s accounting is off by billions of dollars.

The audit revealed:

• $7.7 billion – Understated federal trust fund revenues and expenditures
• $653 million – Overstated general fund assets and revenues
• $8 billion – Overstated California State University’s bond debt
• $9.1 billion – Reporting error that understated a public building construction fund
• Also there was a deferred tax-revenue figure posted as $6.2 billion when it was actually $6.2 million.

All told, that’s more than $31 billion in mistakes.

Sacramento State accounting professor John Corless agrees with auditors saying those glaring mistakes should have been caught by somebody.

"Someone’s not using their equipment right, and they’re not using their heads,” he said.
Republican consultant Mitch Zak is calling for an investigation.

“It’s offensive as a taxpayer,” he said. “There’s no consideration it appears if they misstate or mismanage my tax dollars that there’s any retribution.”

Chiang is running for state treasurer. His aides refused to go on camera for this story.

They said they concur with the assessment, and they blame high staff turnover and a lack of qualified staff, budget cuts, and late and incorrect data from numerous agencies.

Of course, we are sure that no one knows anything about it; no one is responsible for the errors; no one is accountable for the missing money; but a full-scale probe-y investigation will be launched... well played government. Doesn't matter after all - it's not their money.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...2-billion-year

In Lay-mans terms its called "Cooking the Books"