NEWS RELEASE
Books closed for Fiscal Year, Certified by State Controller
Boise, Idaho – State Controller Donna Jones closed the books on Idaho’s finances for Fiscal Year 2009 by certifying the state’s final fiscal numbers.
With the numbers in, Idaho does indeed have its financial house in order.
“There’s an intrinsic time lag between the end of the fiscal year, and the close of the books that is due to the time state agencies need to review their preliminary reports and make any needed adjustments,” said Jones. “The fiscal year ends on June 30, but it takes a few weeks to generate the final numbers and make any needed transfers between funds.”
In financially lean years, the State Controller, at the request of the Board of Examiners and with direction provided by the state Legislature, transfers money from rainy-day and stabilization funds into the General Fund to ensure Idaho’s books balance, and that the state’s finances are not running in the red.
The Idaho Constitution requires the state to balance its budget each year, and, unlike the federal government, prohibits deficit spending.
To balance the books for the fiscal year just ended, the Office of the State Controller transferred a total of $24.1 million from the Budget Stabilization Fund and the Public Education Stabilization Fund into the General Fund, the fund from which most state spending occurs.
“We are fortunate that our state government leaders had the foresight to set aside savings when times were good, to help make these difficult times a little easier,” said Jones.
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