HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Treasury prevented nearly $820 million in improper state payments during fiscal year 2024-25 after auditing almost 10 million payment requests totaling more than $181 billion, according to the department’s first public report detailing its payment review process.
The inaugural Payment Production and Improper Payments Report found Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Review identified 18,765 improper payments before they were issued and documented $88.1 million in taxpayer savings by preventing overpayments, duplicate payments and payments to incorrect recipients.
Under Pennsylvania’s Fiscal Code, the Treasury must review payment requests submitted by more than 70 state agencies and may issue payments only if they are deemed “lawful and correct.” Requests that fail to meet that standard are returned to the originating agency for correction or cancellation.
According to the report, the most common reasons for rejected payments during fiscal year 2024-25 were incorrect addresses, missing or inaccurate supporting documentation, incorrect payees and agency-requested cancellations.
Among the examples cited were a duplicate payment valued at $2.9 million, a $1.2 million payment rejected because of an incorrect address and a quarterly allocation exceeding $40 million that was returned after the submitting agency identified calculation errors.
Treasurer Stacy Garrity said publishing the report is intended to provide greater transparency into how the department reviews state spending before payments are released.
“For the first time ever, Treasury is offering a clear look at the tangible savings generated by our robust auditing process — this is proof to taxpayers that they have a dedicated fiscal watchdog on their side, relentlessly safeguarding every dollar,” Garrity stated.
The report also provides historical context for the payment review program. Over the previous five fiscal years, from 2019-20 through 2023-24, the Bureau of Fiscal Review prevented 106,806 improper payments totaling nearly $4.9 billion and documented approximately $290.5 million in taxpayer savings.
Treasury indicated that the report is part of an effort to expand public access to state financial information through OpenBookPA. While Fiscal Review has historically shared its findings with the Office of the Budget, the Department of General Services and the Department of Revenue, this is the first time the payment audit data has been released publicly.
The Payment Production and Improper Payments Report is available at patreasury.gov/openbookpa.
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