© 1994 - 2007
Against the Grain

Site Design, Hosting and Logo
by DNA Web Media

Where to get a copy:    at your State COMPTROLLER  OFFICE
Cost:    usually sent FREE  if you call and ask for it.
Period:    June 30-June-30 yearly
Printing:   in limited quanity for public consumption
Where else is it available for use:   In  State Library, County Treasurer, some Public Libraries
 

What the public sees:  Much hoop-lah is given by the news media to the GENERAL FUND…or the STATE BUDGET…..which is usually designated as the General Operating Budget …BUT,what you don’t see is the Bureaucrats Budget of Special Monies(designation mine).   The real budget is a total of the General fund and the Bureaucrats budget…which is double the General fund which  the public sees.  The CAFR also shows Federal Monies and Surplus carryovers, and Collections over and above the General Fund (which is how Special Projects are funded without public knowledge.  SURPLUS funds (which the Legislators say they don’t have) are shown in the hundreds of Millions of dollars per year.  For example, in South Carolina, from 1988 to 1996, the difference between Expenditures (all fund types) and the Revenue collected amounts to $ 5.053 Billion dollars. Unfortunately for the public this is only the tip of the iceburg,  in 1997 the bureaucrats collected from the Federal Government over $3.1 Billion off budget, and the Agency Bureaucrats decided where, when, and how it would be used.  Is there any question why the little dome sucks up to the Feds....?

If you obtain a copy of the State CAFR as I have for many years, I would strongly recommend getting a ACCOUNTANT to explain it for you.. most states use Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP) which amounts to a “smoke and mirrors” approach to what the public gets.   This same approach is used by the Counties in their CAFR….yes Marsha , there is also a County CAFR.

As long as I am at it…the serious researcher can find multitudes of  Information in the State Library, the State Statistical group, and even the  State Attorney Generals Library, the State Auditors office, and the Secretary of States office…

A WORD OF CAUTION….these State/ Government employees will usually give you exactly what you ask for…..so do your homework and learn the terminology / phraseology  before you go asking for information.  Remember, the State / Government employee is much like the military ranking system, and the "need to Know" philosophy is active at each level of the heirarchy. Most lower level employees will honestly try to answer your questions or send you to a level of supervision who can.
And yes, you may get some "run around", but a FOIA can rectify that.

Feel free to pass this on to your mail list…..more later..