Commentary: When no one owns the numbers, trust collapses

As published in the Post and Courier Jan 16, 2026

Hello. Re-posting a piece I wrote for the Charleston Post & Courier. Its behind a paywall so Im posting here for those of you that may not have a subscription:

South Carolina stands at a moment of real opportunity.

Our state is growing. Families and businesses continue to choose South Carolina because they see promise and stability. But opportunity only lasts if the fundamentals are sound. Nothing is more fundamental than how a state manages its money.

In 2023, South Carolinians learned that the state could not account for $3.5 billion in its financial records. Months later, another $1.8 billion discrepancy came to light. What followed was confusion, delayed explanations, and finger-pointing across agencies. These episodes did not just expose accounting errors. They revealed a deeper failure of ownership and accountability.

For too long, the Comptroller General has been treated as a passive accounting function rather than a financial leadership role. Recording transactions and closing the books while assuming problems will be caught later is an outdated model. It does not work in a state managing roughly $40 billion a year.

South Carolina needs a Comptroller General who functions more like a chief financial officer.

A CFO does not wait for annual reports to discover problems. A CFO demands clarity, asks hard questions, and intervenes early when numbers do not align. Most importantly, a CFO owns the outcome.

South Carolina’s challenge extends beyond one office. Our executive branch is highly fragmented, with authority spread across independently elected offices and agencies that often operate in parallel rather than in coordination. This structure creates inefficiency, slows decision-making, and blurs accountability.

When authority is diffuse, responsibility becomes optional. Each office controls a piece of the system, but no one owns the whole. When failures occur, the response becomes explanation and redirection instead of correction.

That dynamic was on full display in 2023. Systems were blamed. Processes were questioned. Audits arrived after the fact. What was missing was clear ownership.

Fraud and financial mismanagement thrive where oversight is distant and accountability is blurred. When citizens cannot clearly see where money goes, or when explanations arrive years later, confidence collapses. Once trust erodes, every public function suffers.

Transparency should not be just a slogan; it is the foundation of public trust.

South Carolina does not yet have the level of transparency that earns trust. Today, too much financial information is delayed, fragmented, or difficult for lawmakers and citizens to understand. That gap creates risk and invites error. More importantly, it allows unelected bureaucracies to control the financial narrative instead of the people’s elected representatives. When legislators lack timely, clear data, meaningful oversight becomes impossible.

Modern financial systems can provide real-time visibility into spending. Every dollar can be traceable. Every contract can be tied to purpose and performance. Irregularities can be flagged early, before they become crises. But those tools only matter if the state chooses to implement them and lead around them.

Technology alone, however, will not fix a cultural problem.

South Carolina needs clear standards of stewardship, clear lines of responsibility, and leaders willing to accept accountability rather than deflect it. The Comptroller General’s office should function as an active financial steward, delivering timely, intelligible information that lawmakers, reporters and citizens can use on a daily basis.

Getting this right is not about politics. It is about fundamentals.

A state cannot promise efficiency if it cannot track its dollars. It cannot promise restraint if it cannot control spending. And it cannot promise accountability if no one is clearly accountable.

South Carolina’s future is full of promise. Realizing that promise starts by managing our money professionally, transparently, and responsibly, and by ensuring someone owns the outcome.

Mike Burkhold is a Charleston businessman and the founder of Equiscript, a healthcare technology company serving hospitals and health centers nationwide. He is running for South Carolina Comptroller General to bring transparency and accountability to the state’s finances. Married to his wife Melanie for 30 years, he has two children, lives on Sullivan’s Island and attends St. Andrews Church in Mt. Pleasant.