California in the red by $127.2 billion, state auditors say

A financial report  issued by state auditors finds that the state of California is in the red by an  unsustainable $127.2 billion.

The report says that the state’s negative status increased that year, largely  because it spent $1.7 billion more than it received in revenues and wound up  with an accumulated deficit of just under $23 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012,  the Sacramento Bee stated.

Gov. Jerry Brown has referred to the  deficit and other budget gaps, mostly money owed to schools, as a “wall of debt”  totaling more than $30 billion, the Sacramento Bee reported.

About half of the deficit came from the state issuing general obligation  bonds and then giving the money to local governments and school districts for  public works projects. The report listed California’s long-term obligations at  $167.9 billion, nearly half of which ($79.9 billion) were in general obligation  bonds, with another $30.8 billion in revenue bonds, the Sacramento Bee  reported.