Oregon State Finances Receive a Grade of “C”

Oregon state finances improved slightly, even though repeated decisions by state officials have left the state with a debt burden of $$424.2 million, according to Truth in Accounting's (TIA) analysis of Oregon's most recent financial filings. That burden equates to $300 for every Oregon taxpayer, which is slightly less than last year.

These statistics are troubling, but what's more troubling is that state government officials continue to obscure large amounts of retirement debt on their balance sheets, despite new rules to increase financial transparency. This skewed financial data gives state residents a false impression of their state's overall financial health.

Truth in Accounting is a Chicago-based nonprofit think tank that analyzes state financial reports when they are published. According to its report for 2016,Oregon only has $19.6 billion of assets available to pay bills totaling $20.1 billion. This means that the state has $424.2 million shortfall and a $300 taxpayer burden, which is each taxpayer's share of state bills after its available assets have been tapped. TIA's Taxpayer Burden™ measurement incorporates both assets and liabilities, not just pension debt.

Because of an accounting rule implemented last year, Oregon had to report its pension debt on its balance sheet. This year, the state's reported pension debt grew from a net pension asset of $626.6 million in 2015 to a net pension liability of $1.7 billion in 2016. Despite the improvement in financial reporting for pensions, the state continues to hide $74.1 million of its retiree health care debt. A new accounting standard will be implemented in two years that will require states to report this debt on the balance sheet.

The bottom line is that Oregon's taxpayer burden™ is less than $5,000 so it received a "C" for its finances from Truth in Accounting. While better off than many other states, Oregon still owes more than it owns.

See how Oregon compares to Idaho, Nevada and Washington: http://www.statedatalab.org/c/FybrE3An00b5950
Click on the link to go to an interactive chart at Truth in Accounting’s State Data Lab.