New report puts Kentucky in top ten least transparent states

A report released Nov. 16 has given Kentucky one of the lowest scores in the country for financial transparency based on FY 2020.

Truth in Accounting, a nationwide organization that researches and reports on government financial data to improve transparency, looked at each state’s annual comprehensive financial report. Based on their scoring system, which includes receiving a clean opinion from an independent auditor - an area where the commonwealth failed - only six states placed lower in their transparency rating.

Along with the lack of external audits, Kentucky’s low score was due partially to accounting issues of unemployment benefits established by the CARES Act. The commonwealth received a score of 0 on reporting deferred items and a low score on accessibility to the report.

A September report released by Truth in Accounting gave Kentucky an “F” grade in its analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states. That report determined states’ tax burdens by dividing the amount of money needed to pay their bills by the number of state taxpayers. It deems Kentucky a “sinkhole state,” meaning the commonwealth is among the top-10 states with the highest tax burdens.

Despite 49 states - including Kentucky - enacting balanced budget laws, the report found that 39 states don’t have enough money to pay their bills and that the bulk of state debt is due to unfunded retirement benefit promises, a crisis BIPPS has long warned about.