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By Carl Herman
For five weeks I journalistically hammered that California’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) reveals $600 billion in surplus taxpayer assets, and the various local government agencies’ CAFRs are data-sampled to total $8 trillion in surplus assets.
Last week, the California Parks and Recreation Department was found to be hiding $54 million in assets; more than twice their claimed $22 million budget deficit. This disclosure of fiduciary malfeasance led to the department director’s resignation, and the firing of the second-in-command.
Today, the San Jose Mercury News reports a total of $2.3 billion more was “found” in 500 accounts.