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Protecting Public Dollars
Believing that transparency and accountability improve governmental efficiency, Chiang immediately made the State’s cash balance available to all interested Californians. On a monthly basis, he publishes a general breakdown of the State's cash flow position, including an actual accounting of what public dollars have been received and spent. He also publishes a monthly supplemental report that puts the numbers in context by comparing them to budget projections and actual cash balances from the prior year.
As Controller, Chiang has moved swiftly to identify and manage emerging risks to the State's fiscal heatlh. Shortly after taking office, he hired an independent actuary to determine – two years ahead of schedule – the true costs of post-employment benefits as the first step in publicly crafting California’s long-term plan to meet the State’s accounting and healthcare commitments to its public servants.
Controller Chiang is one of only two constitutional officers to post on his Web site the economic disclosure reports and travel reports of himself and his senior staff to provide easy access to the information for the public.
Since taking office in January 2007, Controller Chiang has identified more than $4 billion in taxpayer dollars that were denied, overpaid, subject to collection, or resulted in revenues, savings and cost avoidance. Under Chiang's aggressive push to identify waste, fraud and abuse, the Controller's Office is outpacing audit findings that occurred during the 12 years prior to his administration.
For more information about the Controller's audit activities, please visit our audits pages.