Fiscal Rankings for Los Angeles County’s 88 Cities Finally Available, for 2020

Commentary The city of Huntington Park, California has finally released its Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the year ending June 30, 2020. The audit by external independent auditors was finally completed on Aug. 10, but was not released until Dec. 5. Thus, Huntington Park won the race for dead last in transparency and accountability among Los Angeles County’s 88 cities and did so by some six months. Taking second place was the city of Artesia, which presented its 2020 ACFR to its city council on April 10. Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic can be blamed, as the Governor’s lockdown started in the final months of this fiscal year, but that should not be a reason for the tardiness, as most of California’s 482 cities did not fall this far behind in this necessary annual fiscal reporting requirement. In the case of Huntington Park, it was shell-shocked by corruption turmoil that put a lengthy delay in its recovery process....