PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- A crucial state budget document is more than a month late, and officials are blaming hiccups from the rollout of a $91 million new computer system, Target 12 has learned.

The document -- called the preliminary closing statement -- lays out how much money the state raised and spent during the prior fiscal year, and by law is due on Sept. 1, two months after the books close.

But this year's closing statement still wasn't out as of Thursday afternoon, continuing a recent pattern. While the 2021 statement came out on time, the 2022 report came out on Sept. 7, the 2023 report on Sept. 15, and last year's on Sept. 24.

Late closing statements were a serious problem in the 2000s, when the Carcieri administration once filed one seven months late, but had generally been

See Full Page