H. B. 2532


(By Delegates Oliverio, Evans, S. Cook,
Beach and Gallagher)

[Introduced March 10, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.]



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, relating to fiscal affairs of counties; establishing form and content requirements for the annual financial statement to be published by a county commission; and requiring the county commission to transmit a copy of such financial statement to a county resident upon request.

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 to read as follows:
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 fiscalyear, 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 the expenditures of the county by account, with each account listing expenditures by the following categories: Personal services, contractual services, commodities, capital outlay and contributions: Provided, That the state department of tax and revenue may add to or modify these categories; 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. The published statement shall include a notice that a financial statement containing all receipts, expenditures and debts of the county is available for public inspection in the county clerk's office during normal business hours. Such statement 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 publication shall be the county.
The county commission shall transmit to any resident of the county requesting the same a copy of the published financial statement containing all receipts, expenditures and debts of the county for the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a list ofthe names of each firm, corporation, and person who received less than fifty dollars moneys 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 commission, concurring in such 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 failure or refusal shall come comes to his or her knowledge, immediately present the evidence thereof to the grand jury if in session, and if not in session, he or she shall institute proper criminal proceedings before a justice magistrate against any such offender, and cause such failure or refusal to be investigated by the next succeeding grand jury.



NOTE: This bill establishes form and content requirements for the annual financial statement to be published by a county commission. The bill also requires the county commission to send a copy of that financial statement to a county resident upon request.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.