H. B. 2556
(By Delegates Kump, Folk, Paxton, Faircloth, Azinger,
Butler and Manypenny)
[Introduced February 20, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-13-23 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to waiving the publication
requirements of financial statements for Class IV
municipalities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-13-23 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. TAXATION AND FINANCE.
§8-13-23. Preparation, publication and disposition of financial
statements.
(a) Every city, within ninety days after the beginning of each
fiscal year, shall prepare on a form to be prescribed by the State
Tax Commissioner and cause to be published a sworn statement
revealing: (1) The receipts and expenditures of the city during
the previous fiscal year; (2) the name of each person who received
more than $50 during the previous fiscal year, together with the amount received; and (3) all debts of the city, the purpose for
which each debt was contracted, its due date and to what date the
interest on the debt has been paid. The statement shall be
published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the
provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code and
the publication area for the publication shall be the city:
Provided, That all salaries, receipts, payments to each individual
vendor and expenditures to employees of municipal offices,
companies and departments may be published in the aggregate.
(b) Every city shall transmit to any resident of the city who
requests it a copy of any published statement for the fiscal year
designated, supplemented by a document listing the names of each
person who received less than $50 from any fund during the fiscal
year and showing the amount paid to each and the purpose for which
paid and an itemization of the salaries, receipts, payments to each
individual vendor and expenditures to employees of municipal
offices, companies and departments otherwise published in the
aggregate.
(c) Every town or village, within one hundred twenty days
after the beginning of each fiscal year, shall prepare on a form to
be prescribed by the State Tax Commissioner a sworn statement
revealing: (1) The receipts and expenditures of the town or
village during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive
headings; (2) the name of each person who received money from any fund during the previous fiscal year, together with the amount
received and the purpose for which paid; and (3) all debts of the
town or village, the purpose for which each debt was contracted,
its due date and to what date the interest on the debt has been
paid: Provided, That all salaries, receipts, payments to each
individual vendor and expenditures to employees of municipal
offices, companies and departments may be published in the
aggregate.
(d) Every town or village shall transmit to any resident of
the town or village who requests it, a copy of any statement for
the fiscal year designated. Any town or village may, if its
governing body thereof elects, also publish the statement as a
Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code and in that event,
the publication area for the publication shall be the town or
village.
(e) The statement required by subsection (a) of this section
and the statement required by subsection (c) of this section shall
be sworn to by the recorder, the mayor and two members of the
governing body of the municipality. As soon as practicable
following the close of the fiscal year, a copy of any statement
required by this section shall be filed by the municipality with
the State Tax Commissioner, the clerk of the county commission of
the county and the clerk of the circuit court of the circuit in which the municipality or the major portion of the territory of the
municipality is located. If the governing body fails or refuses to
perform any of the duties set forth in this section, every member
of the governing body and the recorder of the governing body
concurring in the failure or refusal shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than $10 nor more than $100. If any of the provisions of this
section are violated, it is the duty of the prosecuting attorney of
the county in which the municipality or the major portion of the
territory of the municipality is located to immediately present the
evidence of the violation to the grand jury if in session, and if
not in session he or she shall cause the violations to be
investigated by the next succeeding grand jury.
(f) Where in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section,
salaries, receipts, payments to each individual vendor and
expenditures are published in the aggregate, the city, town or
village shall, upon written request, provide to any resident of the
city, town or village an itemized accounting of the salaries,
receipts, payments to each individual vendor and expenditures.
(g) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the
contrary, class IV municipalities are not required to publish its
financial statements. Class IV municipalities shall provide public
access to these documents on a website maintained by the
municipality and in the municipality's primary office. Copies of financial statements will be provided at no charge upon request.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to waive the publication
requirement of financial statements for class IV municipalities.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.