SC comptroller general’s salary could be cut to $1 after $3.5B mistake
South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom made a $3.5 billion error in an annual financial report, and now it may cost him in his own bank account.
The House during budget discussions late Monday voted 104-7 to reduce Eckstrom’s pay to $1 to essentially strip him of his $151,000 salary.
The comptroller general salary would be restored if Eckstrom is replaced, said state Rep. Heather Bauer, D-Richland, who proposed the amendment.
“Due to his $3.5 billion whoopsie, Comptroller General Eckstrom must be held accountable,” Bauer said.
Pay for the comptroller general was increased in January to $151,000 from $92,000 as part of an effort to provide compensation to statewide elected officials that is competitive with other states.
Several more steps are still required in the state budgeting process before any change to the comptroller’s salary could become final. However, Monday’s move is another sign lawmakers have lost confidence in the state’s chief accountant.
Eckstrom, who was elected in 2002, in February acknowledged his office had for a decade had double counted cash sent to colleges and universities. The error eventually inflated to a $3.5 billion overstatement of the state’s cash balances in annual comprehensive financial reports.
State senators investigating the error have since said Eckstrom’s office under reported about $500 million held by the S.C. Department of Transportation and the college and universities overstatement was as large as $4 billion, bringing the total amount misstated to $4.5 billion.
The misstatement won’t affect the state’s budget discussions because money used assemble the spending plan is based on revenues projected to come into the state that haven’t been allocated by lawmakers, instead of money already sent to agencies by the Legislature.
As the state’s chief accountant and top fiscal watchdog, Eckstrom is in charge of running the state’s payroll, paying vendors, helping other agencies with the accounting system and assembling the state’s annual financial report.
The panel of Senate Finance Committee members is expected to release a set of recommendations on how to respond to the Eckstrom’s error.
Back in the House, a bipartisan group is calling for Eckstrom’s impeachment. Gov. Henry McMaster has since said lawmakers should resist the urge to impeach the comptroller general, who was reelected in November after running unopposed. McMaster said the decision should be left up to voters.
Eckstrom has said he has no plans to resign.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 10:21 AM.
