Officials say South Carolina’s $1.8 billion surplus ‘doesn’t exist’; Here’s why
By Zach Rainey
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South Carolina (WYFF) — In March 2024, it was reported that South Carolina had an extra $1.8 billion that state and private accountants had no idea where it came from.
After the State Treasury Forensic Accounting Review was concluded on Wednesday, it was revealed there was no mystery at all.
Governor Henry McMaster said, “This comprehensive forensic accounting report confirms that there is no $1.8 billion surplus. There is no missing or stolen money. The funds do not exist.”
According to the report, $1.6 billion of the money is a result of incorrect entries into the system. This means the $1.6 billion is not actual cash.
As for the $200 million that does exist, it was already in the state’s reported bank balances.
McMaster added, “There were unintended accounting mistakes made by different parties involved in state government’s transition from an old accounting system to the new accounting system.”
“There is no mystery bank account with $1.8 billion in it, no missing money, all cash and investments are accounted for,” said South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis. “The citizens of South Carolina can be confident that their money is safe.”
South Carolina has had a long history of accounting issues.
The Treasurer’s Office was created when the state’s first constitution was written in 1776. Back then, the General Assembly selected the treasurer. But by the early 1800s, the state’s finances were in “a state of bewildering confusion” and no one could “tell the amounts of debts or of the credit of the State,” according to History of South Carolina, a book edited in 1920 by Yates Snowden and Howard Cutler.
The first comptroller general determined the state was due about $750,000, which would be worth about $20 million today, considering inflation.
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