H. B. 2438
(By Delegates Johnson, Facemyer and Ryan)
[Introduced February 10, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section sixteen, article five,
chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
section twenty-three, article thirteen, chapter eight of
said code; to amend and reenact section three-a, article
nine, chapter eighteen of said code, all relating to
financial statements of counties, municipalities and county
boards of education; providing criminal penalties; and
removing requirement that entire statement be published.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixteen, article five, chapter seven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that section twenty-three,
article thirteen, chapter eight of said code be amended and
reenacted; and that section three-a, article nine, chapter eighteen of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 5. FISCAL AFFAIRS.
§7-5-16. Preparation, publication and disposition of financial
statements.
The county commission of every county, within sixty days
after the first session held 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 statement revealing:
(a) The receipts and expenditures of the county during the
previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive headings; (b) the
name of each firm, corporation, and person who received more than
fifty dollars from any fund during the previous fiscal year,
together with the amount received and the purpose for which paid;
and (c) all debts of the county, the purpose for which each debt
was contracted, its due date, and to what date the interest
thereon has been paid.
Such statement A notice in a form
prescribed by the state tax commissioner announcing that the
statement is available for inspection in the office of the clerk
of the county commission and has been placed for inspection in
all public libraries within the county shall be published as a
Class I-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions
of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code.
and The publication area for
such the publication shall be the county.
The county commission shall transmit to any resident of the
county requesting the same a copy of the published statement for
the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a list of the names
of each firm, corporation, and person who received
less than
fifty dollars
or less from any fund during such fiscal year
showing the amount paid to each and the purpose for which paid.
If a county commission
wilfully fail or refuse willfully
fails or refuses to perform the duties hereinbefore named, every
member of
such the commission, concurring in
such the failure or
refusal,
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more
than one hundred dollars; and the prosecuting attorney of any
such county shall, when
such the failure or refusal
shall come
comes to his knowledge, immediately present the evidence thereof
to the grand jury if in session, and if not in session, he shall
institute proper criminal proceedings before a
justice magistrate
against any
such offender, and cause
such the failure or refusal
to be investigated by the next succeeding grand jury.
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 13. TAXATION AND FINANCE.
PART VII. MUNICIPAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
§8-13-23. Preparation, publication and disposition of financial
statements.
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: (a) The receipts and expenditures of the
city during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive
headings; (b) the name of each person who received more than
fifty dollars from any fund during the previous fiscal year,
together with the amount received and the purpose for which paid;
and (c) all debts of the city, the purpose for which each debt
was contracted, its due date, and to what date the interest
thereon has been paid.
Such statement A notice in a form
prescribed by the state tax commissioner announcing that the
statement is available for inspection in the office of the clerk
or recorder and has been placed for inspection in all public
libraries within the city 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
such the publication shall be the city.
Every city shall transmit to any resident of
such the city
requesting the same a copy of
any published the statement for the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a document listing the
names of each person who received
less than fifty dollars
or less
from any fund during
such the fiscal year and showing the amount
paid to each and the purpose for which paid.
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: (a) The receipts and expenditures of the town or
village during the previous fiscal year arranged under
descriptive headings; (b) 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 (c)
all debts of the town or village, the purpose for which each debt
was contracted, its due date, and to what date the interest
thereon has been paid.
Every town or village shall transmit to any resident of
such
the town or village requesting the same a copy of any
such
statement for the fiscal year designated. Any
such town or
village may, if the governing body thereof so elects, also
publish
such the statement as a Class I legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of said article three, chapter
fifty-nine, and in such event, the publication area for
such the publication shall be the town or village.
The statement required by the first paragraph of this
section and the statement required by the third paragraph of this
section shall be sworn to by the
clerk or recorder of the
municipality and the mayor thereof and two members of the
governing body of
such the municipality. As soon as practicable
following the close of the fiscal year, a copy of
any the
statement
herein required shall be filed by the municipality with
the state tax commissioner, and 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 thereof is located. If the governing body fail or
refuse to perform any of the duties set forth in this section,
every member of
such the governing body and the
clerk or recorder
thereof concurring in
such the failure or refusal
shall be is
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. If
any of the provisions of this section are violated, it
shall be
is the duty of the prosecuting attorney of the county in which
the municipality or the major portion of the territory thereof is
located to immediately present the evidence thereof to the grand
jury if in session, and if not in session, he shall cause such violations to be investigated by the next succeeding grand jury.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 9. SCHOOL FINANCES.
§18-9-3a. Preparation, publication and disposition of financial
statements by county boards of education.
The county board of every county, within sixty days after
the beginning of each fiscal year, shall prepare on a form to be
prescribed by the state tax commissioner and the state
superintendent of free schools
and cause to be published a
statement revealing: (a) The receipts and expenditures of the
board during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive
headings; (b) the name of each firm, corporation, and person who
received more than fifty dollars in the aggregate from all funds
during the previous fiscal year, together with the aggregate
amount received from all funds and the purpose for which paid:
Provided, That
such the statement shall not include the name of
any person who has entered into a contract with this board
pursuant to the provisions of sections two, three, four and five,
article two, chapter eighteen-a of this code; and (c) all debts
of the board, the purpose for which each debt was contracted, its
due date, and to what date the interest thereon has been paid.
Such statement A notice in a form prescribed by the state tax commissioner announcing that the statement is available for
inspection in the office of the county board of education and has
been placed for inspection in all public libraries within the
county shall be published as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter
fifty-nine of this code.
and The publication area for
such the
publication shall be the county. The county board shall pay the
cost of publishing
such statement the notice from the maintenance
fund of the board.
As soon as is practicable following the close of the fiscal
year, a copy of the
published statement
herein required shall be
filed by the county board with the state tax commissioner and
with the state superintendent of free schools.
The county board shall transmit to any resident of the
county requesting the same a copy of the published statement for
the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a list of the names
of all school personnel employed by the board during
such the
fiscal year showing the amount paid to each, and a list of the
names of each firm, corporation, and person who received
less
than fifty dollars
or less from any fund during
such the fiscal
year showing the amount paid to each and the purpose for which
paid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement
that the full financial statement of counties, municipalities and
county boards of education be published in newspapers. The bill
provides that a condensed version be published along with a
notice that the full statements are available upon request.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.