GOP Comptroller Candidate Accuses Mendoza of "Hiding" Financial Troubles
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza is responding to allegations from her Republican opponent that she’s been hiding the state’s fiscal troubles.
The Republican candidate for State Comptroller is accusing incumbent Democrat Susana Mendoza of “hiding” the state’s fiscal problems, but Mendoza’s camp says she has allowed people to get a true look at state debt.
McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi is the only announced Republican candidate for Comptroller and part of a slate backed by billionaire Ken Griffin. In a tweet from Teresi’s campaign last week, she accused Mendoa of “using her position to hide our state's financial trouble.”
We reached out to Teresi’s campaign to provide specifics on their accusation.
The campaign provided the following response from the candidate, though did not make her available for an interview:
"Mendoza's financial statements include qualified financials, meaning that they are unvetted, unaudited numbers that can't be relied on. It's not acceptable for a business, it's not acceptable for your taxes, so why should it be acceptable for a state's financial statements? Governor Pritzker and Comptroller Mendoza are touting a credit rating increase and paying down our bonds while simultaneously taking on more debt, and putting the state further in a financial hole. The 2021 Preliminary Financial Reports show a net decrease in the state's financial position, meaning that the state is in more debt, despite the one-time windfall of billions in Federal dollars. They are promoting the equivalent of paying your gas and electric bills while refinancing the house to do it. That's not responsible financial leadership."
A spokesperson for Mendoza responded to Teresi’s complaint:
“Under state law, the Comptroller's office cannot publish the final Annual Comprehensive Financial Report until the state Auditor General has finished auditing every state department. In years when the Auditor General's audits take so long to complete that Illinois would be among the last states to publish its ACFR, state law allows the Comptroller at her discretion to publish an Interim report, which the rating agencies and other financial watchdogs appreciate. The office published an interim report - clearly marked "interim" - in January. It will be succeeded by a final report when the Auditor General's office completes its audits."
In most counties, the Auditor is responsible for creating a similar Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR. But, in McHenry County, the duty has been transferred to the county’s new Chief Financial Officer, and is no longer under the purview of the Auditor.