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California Governor Jerry Brown finds $119 million in untapped funds

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
August 7th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

California Governor Jerry Brown has announced that $119 million more in untapped funds was found in a sweeping audit of state accounts. This much-needed influx of cash is just the latest of more than $286.5 million, a sum lawmakers were unaware of as they cut government services.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The latest influx of money will include about $30 million for healthcare programs, almost $29 million for reimbursing crime victims and $12.5 million for cleaning up underground petroleum tanks. Nearly $113 million was reportedly found languishing in a recycling program funded with consumers' bottle deposits. In addition, $54 million had gone unreported by state parks officials.

It's not yet known how this money could have been used to plug the state's deficit. Brown along with his fellow California lawmakers cut more than $1 billion from healthcare five weeks ago.

Brown, who had threatened last week to close 70 parks to help balance the budget, proposed using $20 million of the newfound funds for park maintenance and for matching the private donations to keep the parks open.

"Hopefully the state can work in partnership with the citizen donor groups to make sure we have a long-term plan for keeping parks open," Gil Duran, a spokesman for Brown said. "This is one-time money, and we're not out of the woods yet."

Governor Brown's Finance Director Ana Matosantos says the audit showed that the situation at the parks department, which the state attorney general is investigating and state auditors are still examining, was unique. "There are not other hidden asset-type circumstances," she said.

A thorough review of more than 500 "special" funds, which are separate from the general fund and generally dedicated to specific purposes, showed the scope of a problem that raises questions about how firm a grip the Brown administration has on state finances.

Brown has pushed voters to pass billions of dollars in tax increases on the November ballot. Recent opinion polls suggest that many voters want some sign that California's fiscal house is being put in order before they will give more money to Sacramento.

Officials found 68 accounts in which bottom lines varied by at least $1 million. The Brown administration attributed most of the imbalance to different accounting methods used in the two offices. Hundreds of millions were found to be the result of errors including typos, omitted interest or miscalculated revenue.

The audit also turned up $422.7 million in discrepancies at the Public Utilities Commission, which regulates telecommunications and energy services, and officials said they have launched a more thorough review of its finances.

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