Introduced Version
House Bill 2583 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2583
(By Delegates Stalnaker, Browning and R. M. Thompson)
[Introduced
February 21, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §12-4-14 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing flexibility to
organizations receiving less than one hundred thousand dollars
of state funds in obtaining audits and reviews.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §12-4-14 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ACCOUNTS, REPORTS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§12-4-14. Audits of corporations, associations or other
organizations which receive state funds or grants.
(a) Any corporation, association or other organization in West
Virginia that is not a local government as defined in section
one-a, article nine, chapter six of this code and which receives
state funds or grants in the amount of fifteen one hundred thousand
dollars or more shall file an audit of the disbursement of funds with the Legislative Auditor's office. The audit shall be filed
within two years of the disbursement of funds or grants by the
grantor and shall be made by an independent certified public
accountant at the cost of the grantee and show that the funds or
grants were spent for the purposes intended when the grant was
made. The state agency administering the funds or grants shall
notify the grantee of the reporting requirements set forth in this
section. A grantee failing to file a required audit within the
two-year time period is barred from subsequently receiving state
funds or grants until the grantee has filed the audit and is
otherwise in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(b) Audits of state funds or grants under fifteen one hundred
thousand dollars may be authorized by the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance to be conducted by the Legislative Auditor's
office, at no cost to the grantee: Provided, That volunteer fire
departments satisfy the audit requirements of this section by
submitting a sworn statement of annual expenditures to the
Legislative Auditor's office, along with a filing fee of
seventy-five dollars, on or before the fourteenth day of February
of each year, if the volunteer fire department elects not to be
audited. The sworn statement of expenditures shall be signed by
the chief or director of the volunteer fire department, and shall
be made under oath and acknowledged before a notary public. An
additional filing fee of twenty-five dollars shall be included with the sworn statement of annual expenditures if the statement is
submitted between the fifteenth day of February and the fifteenth
day of March. An additional filing fee of fifty dollars shall be
included with the sworn statement of annual expenditures if the
statement is submitted between the sixteenth day of March and the
fifteenth day of April. If the sworn statement is not submitted on
or before the fifteenth day of April, the volunteer fire department
shall file an audit of the disbursement of funds, made by an
independent certified public accountant, with the Legislative
Auditor's office no later than the first day of July. The audit
shall be made at the cost of the volunteer fire department. If the
audit made by the independent certified public accountant is not
filed with the Legislative Auditor by the first day of July, the
Legislative Auditor shall notify the State Treasurer who shall
withhold payment of one thousand dollars from any amount that would
otherwise be distributed to the fire department under the
provisions of sections fourteen-d and thirty-three, article three,
chapter thirty-three of this code and section sixteen-a, article
twelve of said chapter and pay the amount withheld to the fund from
which it was distributed to be redistributed the following year
pursuant to the applicable provisions of those sections. If the
volunteer fire department does not timely file a sworn statement of
annual expenditures or an audit of the disbursement of funds, made
by an independent certified public accountant, with the Legislative Auditor's office for three consecutive years, the Legislative
Auditor shall notify the State Treasurer who shall withhold payment
of any amount that would otherwise be distributed to the fire
department under the provisions of sections fourteen-d and
thirty-three, article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and
section sixteen-a, article twelve of said chapter and pay the
amount withheld to the fund from which it was distributed to be
redistributed the following year pursuant to the applicable
provisions of those sections.
(c) The office of the Legislative Auditor may assign an
employee or employees to perform audits at the direction of the
Legislative Auditor of the disbursement of funds or grants to
volunteer fire departments. The volunteer fire department shall
cooperate with the Legislative Auditor, the Legislative Auditor's
employees and the State Auditor in performing their duties under
this section. If the Legislative Auditor determines a volunteer
fire department is not cooperating, the Legislative Auditor shall
notify the State Treasurer who shall withhold payment of any amount
that would otherwise be distributed to the fire department under
the provisions of sections fourteen-d and thirty-three, article
three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section sixteen-a,
article twelve of said chapter until the Legislative Auditor
informs the Treasurer that the fire department has cooperated as
required by this section. The State Treasurer shall pay the amount withheld into a special revenue account hereby created in the State
Treasury and designated the "Volunteer Fire Department Audit
Account". If, after one year from payment of the amount withheld
into the special revenue account, the Legislative Auditor informs
the State Treasurer of continued noncooperation by the fire
department, the State Treasurer shall pay the amount withheld to
the fund from which it was distributed to be redistributed the
following year pursuant to the applicable provisions of those
sections.
(d) Filing fees paid by volunteer fire departments pursuant to
this section shall be paid into a special revenue account created
in the State Treasury known as the "Special Legislative Audit
Fund." Expenditures from the fund are authorized to be made by the
Legislative Auditor's office solely for the purposes of payment of
costs associated with the audits conducted pursuant to this
section. Any person who files a fraudulent sworn statement of
expenditures under this section is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand
dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned in a
state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more
than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e) Whenever the State Auditor performs an audit of a
volunteer fire department for any purpose the Auditor shall also
conduct an audit of other state funds received by the fire department pursuant to sections fourteen-d and thirty-three,
article three, chapter thirty-three of this code and section
sixteen-a, article twelve of said chapter. The Auditor shall send
a copy of any such audit to the Legislative Auditor. The
Legislative Auditor may accept an audit performed by the Auditor in
lieu of performing an audit under this section.
(f) Any audit submitted pursuant to the provisions of this
section may be filed electronically in accordance with the
provisions of article one, chapter thirty-nine-a of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow organizations
receiving less than $100,000 of state money some flexibility in
securing audits and reviews.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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