No secret lasts forever. But it can last seven months, and that’s how long it took state officials to fess up to a $137 million mistake involving school funding.
Top fiscal officials in the Warner administration knew about the mistake, and still said nothing to Governor Timothy Kaine. Nonetheless, Kaine took responsibility.
Republicans were outraged; Democrats were clearly embarrassed.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission looked into the problem after Fairfax County school officials noted discrepancies in education funding.
JLARC blamed "inadequate quality control" for the errors, which included simple math mistakes and a mix-up in how the state calculates revenue from the sales tax.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page recalled that Governor Mark Warner came into office complaining that his predecessor, Jim Gilmore, "had not fully disclosed the sad state of the Commonwealth’s finances."
"How ironic, then," said the T-D, "that Warner’s budget chief, John Bennett, evidently kept almost everyone -- including the incoming Kaine administration -- in the dark for months" about the snafu.
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Making Your FOIA Life Easier
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Making Your FOIA Life Easier - a records management seminar
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