CHICAGO — A new accounting rule is requiring Utah to come clean about $1.1 billion of its pension debt, but the state is still hiding all of its retiree health care debt. This information is released today in a report titled, The Financial State of Utah, by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a Chicago-based think tank that analyzes government financials.
Because this pension rule was not required in previous years, Utah state officials did not report any pension debt in 2014. As a result, Utah’s pension debt increased from zero in 2014 to $1.1 billion in 2015.
“Without this accounting rule, Utah state officials would continue to hide pension debt from taxpayers,” said Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of TIA. “We applaud Utah state officials including Utah’s Director of Finance, John C. Reidhead, for abiding by the new rule and providing accurate pension debt figures to its taxpayers – we’ve been fighting for this for years.”
TIA’s analysis found that while Utah is reporting all pension debt, state officials are still excluding all – $184.8 million – retiree health care debt off the state’s balance sheet. Despite this hidden debt, TIA researchers found that Utah is in good financial shape.
TIA researchers recalculated Utah’s overall financial position and discovered the state has a $4 billion surplus. When this surplus is divided amongst Utah taxpayers, each taxpayer's share of the state’s taxpayer surplus is $5,000.
Data is derived from the state of Utah’s June 30, 2015, audited Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and retirement plans' actuarial reports.
Founded in 2002, Truth in Accounting is dedicated to educating and empowering citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. Sheila Weinberg is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 30 years of experience in the field.
Contact: Katherine Oxenreiter
312.589.5104
koxenreiter@truthinaccounting.org
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