Public Accountability Report

The Comptroller is the State’s Chief Fiscal Control Officer, responsible for the legal, efficient, and effective operation of state government’s fiscal affairs. The Illinois Office of Comptroller (IOC) is charged with the responsibility of maintaining the state’s central fiscal accounts, ordering payments into the treasury, and issuing warrants against any funds held by the Treasurer. The state constitution directs the Comptroller to apply sound fiscal controls to the state’s central fiscal accounts.

To carry out its constitutional and statutory requirements, the IOC performs key financial functions of statewide financial management and reporting. Additionally, the IOC regulates pre-need licenses and purchases through the Pre-need Licensing and Certification Enforcement (PLACE) program, and the Local Government Division collects and analyzes annual financial reports from thousands of units of local government.

In fiscal year 2025, the office’s Expenditure Analysis and Review Section (EARS) received more than 17,000 formal inquiries for information.

As part of the statutory responsibility of the IOC, the Local Government Division annually produces the Fiscal Responsibility Report Card, which summarizes financial data received from approximately 5,200 units of local government. The edit and review process ensures that the financial data submitted on the Annual Financial Reports (AFRs) is of acceptable quality to produce the Fiscal Responsibility Report Card.

In fiscal year 2025, the Local Government Division achieved a compliance rate of 93%, and the PLACE Division achieved 98% compliance among pre-need licensees. To help ensure the protection of consumer funds, audits of these financial reports are conducted on a recurring basis, with 558 audits performed in fiscal year 2025.

The Comptroller Connect Internet Filing program is utilized by local governments to digitally report their data. The Local Government Division provides governments with hands-on AFR assistance, regional training workshops, a toll-free local government assistance hotline, and communication with the division via email. In fiscal year 2025, the division’s hotline received approximately 1,400 calls and 1,800 emails.

Most reports may be found on the IOC’s website, illinoiscomptroller.gov, by going to the “Find A Report” search tool at illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-reports-data/find-a-report. Local government reports, including the Fiscal Responsibility Report Cards and Data Summaries, Annual Financial Reports, and TIF Reports, may be found in the Local Government Warehouse at illinoiscomptroller.gov/constituent-services/local-government/local-government-warehouse.

The salaries of all court reporters employed by the circuit courts are paid by the State of Illinois through the IOC. In addition to salaries, fees are paid to court reporters for preparing and filing court transcripts. The General Assembly also appropriates funds to the IOC to pay the salaries of state officers, including the six statewide elected executive branch officers, members of the Legislature, and various department directors and commission chairs and members.

The fiscal year 2026 projections in this report are based on a fully appropriated fiscal year 2026 budget.