Auditor General reports financial-reporting weaknesses, $83.6M in draft adjustments; urges legislative follow-up

PROVIDENCE — At the first meeting of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Efficiency on April 3, Auditor General David Bergantino briefed legislators on the Office of the Auditor General’s role and the results of recent audits, saying the office issued a clean (unmodified) opinion on the State of Rhode Island’s 2024 financial statements while documenting multiple significant deficiencies that warrant legislative attention.

Bergantino told the subcommittee the 2024 state financial audit produced an unmodified opinion but included 28 findings across the state reporting entity and required extensive draft adjustments. “The good news is it did result in an unmodified audit opinion,” Bergantino said. He said the draft statements initially showed the general fund’s operating results understated by about $83,600,000, the Intermodal Surface Transportation (ICT) Fund draft operating loss was misstated by about $10,400,000, and the state initially failed to record roughly $93,000,000 in debt related to the City of Central Falls’ new high school.

Why this matters: those draft misstatements complicate the overlapping timelines of audit close and legislative budget work. Bergantino told legislators that, although the issued financial statements were corrected before final release, the audit adjustments create additional work for House and Senate fiscal staff and can introduce risk or inefficiency into the budget process.

Key findings and examples

- Draft adjustments and reporting errors: Bergantino said audit work uncovered about 50 audit adjustments in the general fund draft close procedures, including the $83.6 million operating‑results…