North Carolina ranks next to last in fiscal-transparency report
(The Center Square) – North Carolina earned a score of 54 in a new report on fiscal transparency from a national watchdog organization.
Truth in Accounting (TIA) released its Financial Transparency Score 2021 report that scores states 0-100 on how transparent and accurate financial information is reported at the end of a fiscal year. The new report is based on fiscal year 2020 data.
No state earned a perfect score in the report. TIA said this year’s transparency scores are worse than the previous years because of response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal aid highlighted weaknesses in states’ unemployment insurance.
“These weaknesses caused several states to receive poor audit opinions,” TIA wrote.
North Carolina tied with Georgia for the second-lowest score among the 50 states. TIA gave the state no points in one category because of its lack of external auditors.
North Carolina scored 3 points out of 10 in two categories because its audit included misleading and confusing deferred items. The state only earned full points (10) for reporting all retirement liabilities on its balance sheet. Half of the state’s possible 100 points depended on whether its annual financial and pension report received a clean opinion from an independent auditor. North Carolina received 25 points out of 50 for the review of its audit.
TIA also looked at whether states’ audits were searchable with useful links from the table of contents and bookmarks. It also examined the accessibility and timeliness of the financial reports.
Utah ranked first in the 2021 report, with a total score of 88 points. Maryland and South Dakota ranked second with 87 points. Colorado was the least transparent state in the country, with a score of 46.
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