PUBLISHING OF COUNTY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Sections 50.815, 50.820, 50.800, & 50.810)

This act changes the date counties shall prepare and publish their financial statements from the first Monday in March to June 30th of each year. Additionally, the county treasurer shall not pay the county commission until notice is received from the state auditor that the county's financial statement has been published in a newspaper after the first day of July.

This act also requires second, third, and fourth class counties to produce and publish a county annual financial statement in the same manner as counties of the first classification. The financial statement shall include the name, office, and current gross annual salary of each elected or appointed county official.

The county clerk or other county officer preparing the financial statement shall provide an electronic copy of the data used to create the financial statement without charge to the newspaper requesting the data.

Finally, the newspaper publishing the financial statement shall charge and receive no more than its regular local classified advertising rate as published 30 days before the publication of the financial statement.

These provisions are identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed CCS/SS/SCS/HB 1606 (2022), SB 845 (2022), and SB 1191 (2022) and substantially similar to SB 1541 (2022) and HB 381 (2021).

COUNTY FINANCIAL STATEMENT PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO FILE (Section 105.145)

Under current law, any transportation development district having gross revenues of less than $5,000 in a fiscal year for which an annual financial statement was not timely filed to the State Auditor is not subject to a fine.

This act provides that any political subdivision that has gross revenues of less than $5,000 or that has not levied or collected sales or use taxes in the fiscal year for which the annual financial statement was not timely filed shall not be subject to a fine.

Additionally, if failure to timely submit the annual financial statement is the result of fraud or other illegal conduct by an employee or officer of the political subdivision, the political subdivision shall not be subject to a fine if the statement is filed within 30 days of discovery of the fraud or illegal conduct.

If the political subdivision has an outstanding balance for fines at the time it files its first annual financial statement after August 28, 2022, the Director of Revenue shall make a one-time downward adjustment to such outstanding balance in an amount that reduces the outstanding balance by no less than 90%. If the Director of Revenue determines a fine is uncollectable, the Director shall have the authority to make a one-time downward adjustment to any outstanding penalty.

These provisions are identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed CCS/SS/SCS/HB 1606 (2022) and the truly agreed to and finally passed SS/SCS/SB 724 (2022) and substantially similar to HB 441 (2021), HB 826 (2021), and to provisions in SCS/SB 527 (2021).

MARY GRACE PRINGLE