California's Last Tally of Uncollected State Debt: $9.1 Billion
Summary
In its final report under a transparency mandate that has since lapsed, California's Department of Finance told the Legislature that seven state departments held $9.1 billion in outstanding receivables as of June 30, 2009 -- 56% of it more than 545 days old, with $1.3 billion written off that year. Finance was explicit that the whole sum could not be viewed as collectible: about $3.3 billion was estimated tax liability for people who had never filed a return. The statute requiring the count expired on January 1, 2011, and the state has not published the statewide picture since.
Old money, written down
Most of the balance had been outstanding a long time. Receivables more than 545 days old -- roughly 18 months -- were $5.16 billion, 56% of the total⧉. In the same fiscal year the seven departments discharged, or wrote off, $1.3 billion⧉ -- $1.1 billion of it at the Franchise Tax Board -- against $2.71 billion⧉ collected.
View data as table
| 1-179 days | 1,780 | 20% of the total |
|---|---|---|
| 180-365 days | 1,393 | 15% |
| 366-544 days | 810 | 9% |
| Over 545 days | 5,160 | 56% -- roughly 18 months or older |
The headline overstates what the state could actually expect. Two tax agencies -- the Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization -- were 99% of the total⧉, and about $3.3 billion⧉ was estimated liability for taxpayers who had never filed. Finance said so plainly: "the entire amount cannot be viewed as collectible."⧉
Then the state stopped counting
The report existed because a statute told Finance to produce it. That statute, Government Code Section 13292.5, "expired on January 1, 2011,"⧉ by the Department's own account, and the Accounting Reports index⧉ still lists only three editions -- 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. No later statewide delinquent-accounts tally has been published.
- California's last statewide delinquent-accounts report showed $9.1 billion owed to seven departments as of June 30, 2009, up from $7.4 billion a year before.
- 56% of it -- $5.16 billion -- had been outstanding more than 545 days; the seven departments wrote off $1.3 billion that year.
- Finance warned the full sum was not collectible: two tax agencies held 99%, and about $3.3 billion was estimated liability for non-filers.
- The reporting mandate expired in 2011; the statewide picture has not been published since (moderate confidence that no equivalent statewide report exists, based on the Department's own index).
Figures are self-reported by the seven departments (Franchise Tax Board, Board of Equalization, State Lands Commission, and the Departments of General Services, Motor Vehicles, Real Estate, and Corporations) and compiled by Finance; "delinquent" here means unpaid 180 or more days after the obligation was first due. All dollar amounts are as of June 30, 2009 (July 1, 2008 for the prior-year comparison) and are not adjusted for inflation. The report cautions that receivable balances include estimated, uncollectible, and normal-course amounts and that age is not, by itself, a measure of collectibility.
Sources(2) ▾
- California Department of Finance, 2008-09 Delinquent Accounts Report (transmittal letter and report per Government Code Section 13292.5) (2010-02-26) — The Director of Finance's third and final annual report to the Legislature under Government Code Section 13292.5, transmitted February 26, 2010. Reports the receivables and delinquencies of seven specified departments as of July 1, 2008; collections, adjustments, and discharges during fiscal 2008-09; and the outstanding balance and its aging as of June 30, 2009. Evidences the $9.1 billion outstanding as of June 30, 2009, the $7.4 billion as of July 1, 2008, the FY2008-09 aging distribution, the $1.3 billion discharged in 2008-09, the $2.71 billion collected, the FTB/BOE 99% concentration, the ~$3.3 billion of estimated filing-enforcement receivables embedded in the total, and the seven-department scope. Issuer-hosted PDF on the Department of Finance's own domain. dof.ca.gov · original document
- California Department of Finance, Accounting Reports (2026-08-14) — The Department of Finance's Accounting Reports index page. States that the delinquent-accounts report was provided to the Legislature pursuant to Government Code Section 13292.5, 'which expired on January 1, 2011,' and lists only three reports in the series (2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09). Evidences that the statutory reporting mandate has lapsed and that the 2008-09 report is the most recent statewide delinquent-accounts report the Department has published. dof.ca.gov · original document
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The last time California published a statewide count of the debts its departments could not collect, the number was $9.1 billion⧉. That was the Department of Finance's 2008-09 Delinquent Accounts Report⧉, transmitted to the Legislature in February 2010, covering seven specified departments as of June 30, 2009 -- up from $7.4 billion⧉ a year earlier.