Photo: Elijah-Lovkoff / iStock / Getty Images
BOSTON (State House News Service) - The "best case" scenario could see an annual state financial report filed several weeks past its due date, posing a risk of additional delay to subsequent accounting work, Comptroller William McNamara said Wednesday.
By taking so long to make decisions, legislators have once again effectively prevented the comptroller from meeting a deadline in state law to complete the Statutory Basis Financial Report, or SBFR, which summarizes state government revenue and spending for each fiscal year. The report is due Oct. 31 each year, but cannot be completed until the governor signs into law a closeout budget -- often referred to as a "closeout supp" -- to wrap up the books for the year.
"The best case right now is for mid- to late-November delivery, and that, in turn, can become complicated by the Thanksgiving holiday," McNamara told the Advisory Board to the Comptroller on Wednesday. "I assure you that the team puts in night and weekend hours to get things done, but nevertheless, certainly a major holiday can have an impact. So obviously, our goal is, our hope is that action will take place relatively soon or very soon on the closeout supp and that we will get it in time to live up to this November delivery that I'm laying out here."
Gov. Maura Healey filed a more than $2 billion spending bill on Sept. 13, and while top Democrats have signaled they're privately negotiating about it, the measure has yet to emerge in either branch for a vote and no one in either the House or Senate or the Healey administration has publicly expressed any concerns about the timetable.
McNamara said his office needs three to four weeks after completion of the spending measure to finish the SBFR because his office has "extensive work" to wrap up and must then hand it to an independent firm for review.
Democrats who control the House and Senate have made a regular habit of delivering closeout budgets too late for the comptroller to meet deadlines. McNamara, who said he takes the Oct. 31 date "very seriously," told advisory board members the target has been "met relatively few times" in the past 10 to 15 years.
"But for many years, a date in early November was achievable, and I believe it's really critical that we get back to that," McNamara said, warning of potential spillover effects on another major report due Dec. 31. "The risk of further delay in the SBFR is not just its own delivery date, but then it begins to crowd out and move out the ability to focus on the [Annual Comprehensive Financial Report]."
The bill Healey filed is packed with time-sensitive spending proposals, including $250 million for the state's emergency shelter capacity amid a period of such high demand that Massachusetts is on the verge of being unable to guarantee shelter to some eligible families.
McNamara said his office is in regular contact with the House and Senate Ways and Means committees and senses an "awareness" of the importance of prompt action.
"I also agree that our conversations with our partners in the Legislature have been positive and are productive, and I also share the sense that they understand the importance of this and are actively looking to complete the closeout of fiscal year '23 as appropriately as they can," Healey administration budget chief Matthew Gorzkowicz said.
McNamara pitched the forthcoming reports not just as an accounting exercise, but also as a "great opportunity" for Massachusetts to show off its "really fine financial conditions."
"In this past year, as over the last several years, we've seen discipline and prudence to build an extremely healthy balance in the stabilization fund," he said. "That's a very strong one, while continuing to make important contributions to the state's pension liability, scoring well there."
After their summer recess, the House and Senate are scheduled to break again on Nov. 15, and action on the closeout budget is expected by that date.
Written By Chris Lisinski/SHNS
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