10 Spooky Government Finance Facts

To celebrate Halloween this year Truth in Accounting compiled our list of the 10 spookiest government finance facts. The United States has accumulated more debt than ever before. The national debt has reached an all-time high, but it is not the only burden that Americans have to fear. Forty of the 50 states and 63 of the 75 most populated cities do not have enough money to pay their bills. Pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) are the main contributors to state and city debt. While Medicare and Social Security cause a large amount of the national debt.

10. The average pension funding ratio for the 50 states is 71.06 percent. This means for every dollar of promised benefits, the 50 states have only set aside 71 cents on average to fund these promises.

9. Social Security has depleted by $3 trillion since 2014.

8. The United States owes $34.9 trillion in promised Social Security benefits. This means that the U.S. has promised $34.9 trillion in benefits, but has not set money aside to pay for these benefits.

7. The total U.S. student debt is $1.23 trillion. The 50-state average debt per student is $29,011.

6. The amount of public debt has increased by 172 percent since 2008. It increased from $5.8 billion to $15.8 billion. Public debt is the amount of publicly-held debt (Treasury Securities) reported as a liability on the federal government's balance sheet.

5. There is no state with fully funded other post-employment benefits plans(OPEB). The average funding ratio for the 50 states is 18.5 percent. This means that for every dollar promised of OPEB, the states have only 18 cents set aside to pay these benefits.

4. The debt ceiling has reached a new height of $21.5 trillion. The debt ceiling has risen by $12 billion since 2008.

3. New York City has $38.3 billion available to pay $244 billion worth of bills. This means the city needs $185.5 billion to pay its bills

2. New Jersey needs $208.8 billion to pay its FY 2018 bills, which comes out to a Taxpayer Burden of $65,100.

1. The national debt has reached $120 trillion, this is almost $98 trillion higher than the reported national debt. The reported national debt does not include unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises.