In the picturesque state of South Carolina, an enigma has arisen that could befit a modern financial thriller—a bank account brimming with approximately $1.8 billion. For over a decade, this considerable sum has accumulated, and yet, state officials and accountants are baffled as to its origins and rightful place in the state’s budget.
The discovery of such an astronomical amount, untraceable and unspoken for, has stirred a mix of concern and curiosity within political and fiscal circles. Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, spearheading the Senate panel investigating this peculiar scenario, likened it to an eerie discovery: “It’s like going into your bank and the bank president tells you we have a lot of money in our vault but we just don’t know who it belongs to.”
This is not the first time South Carolina’s financial management has been called into question. A recent memory is the unsettling $3.5 billion mistake where money was double-posted in higher education accounts. That massive error, however, was a paper one, related to the state’s shift to new computer systems during the 2010s. The current quandary involves real cash and falls at the feet of elected officials like Republican Treasurer Curtis Loftis, who insists he isn’t responsible for the oversight.
Investigative accountants are entangled in efforts to trace the trail of transactions that led to the account’s bloating. Each fiscal year-end seems to have had funds swept into this account to square the state’s ledger, yet the reasons remain elusive. It’s a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, as an audit revealed poor communication between the Treasurer’s Office and the Comptroller General’s Office.
Loftis, who acknowledges he invested the mystery account and yielded nearly $200 million in interest for the state, claims it was not his duty to inform the General Assembly about the money’s existence. In a letter addressed to Sen. Grooms, Loftis indicating a timeline of mere weeks to provide answers was unrealistic.
The $1.8 billion remains unspent, at a time when state agencies have had $3 billion in requests unmet in the next year’s budget. Legislative leaders, along with Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, intend to wait for a definitive report before deciding on the use of the funds. The governor, seemingly unperturbed, sees no rush: “That’s a lot of money and there is no need to hurry up and try to spend it.”
Relevant articles:
– South Carolina has $1.8 billion but doesn’t know where the money came from or where it should go
– SC leaders don’t know why or how state has $1.8B sitting in wrong bank account – The Island News – Beaufort, SC, The Island News – Beaufort, SC, Thu, 22 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT