§ 35-6-1 - Controller – Duties in general.
SECTION 35-6-1
§ 35-6-1 Controller – Duties ingeneral. – (a) Within the department of administration there shall be a controller whoshall be appointed by the director of administration pursuant to chapter 4 oftitle 36. The controller shall be responsible for accounting and expenditurecontrol and shall be required to:
(1) Administer a comprehensive accounting and recordingsystem which will classify the transactions of the state departments andagencies in accordance with the budget plan;
(2) Maintain control accounts for all supplies, materials,and equipment for all departments and agencies except as otherwise provided bylaw;
(3) Prescribe a financial, accounting, and cost accountingsystem for state departments and agencies;
(4) Preaudit all state receipts and expenditures;
(5) Prepare financial statements required by the severaldepartments and agencies, by the governor, or by the general assembly;
(6) Approve the orders drawn on the general treasurer;provided, that the preaudit of all expenditures under authority of thelegislative department and the judicial department by the state controllershall be purely ministerial, concerned only with the legality of theexpenditure and availability of the funds, and in no event shall the statecontroller interpose his or her judgment regarding the wisdom or expediency ofany item or items of expenditure;
(7) Prepare and timely file, on behalf of the state, any andall reports required by the United States, including, but not limited to, theinternal revenue service, or required by any department or agency of the state,with respect to the state payroll; and
(8) Prepare a preliminary closing statement for each fiscalyear. The controller shall forward the statement to the chairpersons of thehouse finance committee and the senate finance committee, with copies to thehouse fiscal advisor and the senate fiscal and policy advisor, by September 1following the fiscal year ending the prior June 30 or thirty (30) days afterenactment of the appropriations act, whichever is later. The report shallinclude but is not limited to:
(i) A report of all revenues received by the state in thecompleted fiscal year, together with the estimates adopted for that year ascontained in the final enacted budget, and together with all deviations betweenestimated revenues and actual collections. The report shall also include cashcollections and accrual adjustments;
(ii) A comparison of actual expenditures with each of theactual appropriations, including supplemental appropriations and otheradjustments provided for in the Rhode Island General Laws;
(iii) A statement of the opening and closing surplus in thegeneral revenue account; and
(iv) A statement of the opening surplus, activity, andclosing surplus in the state budget reserve and cash stabilization account andthe state bond capital fund.
(b) The controller shall provide supporting information onrevenues, expenditures, capital projects, and debt service upon request of thehouse finance committee chairperson, senate finance committee chairperson,house fiscal advisor, or senate fiscal and policy advisor.
(c) Upon issuance of the audited annual financial statement,the controller shall provide a report of the differences between thepreliminary financial report and the final report as contained in the auditedannual financial statement.
(d) Upon issuance of the audited financial statement, thecontroller shall transfer all general revenues received in the completed fiscalyear net of transfer to the state budget reserve and cash stabilization accountas required by § 35-3-20 in excess of those estimates adopted for thatyear as contained in the final enacted budget to the employees' retirementsystem of the state of Rhode Island as defined in § 36-8-2.
(e) The controller shall create a special fund not part ofthe general fund and shall deposit amounts equivalent to all deferredcontributions under this act into that fund. From the special funds fordeferred contributions to the retirement system, the controller shall transferthe amounts due to the retirement system to the general treasurer who shalltransfer such amounts into the retirement fund as appropriate.