H. B. 4352


(By Delegates Johnson, L. White, Paxton, D. Cook,
Willison, Ellis and Everson)

[Introduced February 4, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-three, article thirteen, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the requirement on municipalities to publish their annual financial statement in full; requiring the financial statement to be prepared in the same detail as in prior law, but permitting municipalities to publish just a notice of where the financial statement is available to the public and can be reviewed and copied.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section twenty-three, article thirteen, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
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 shall be published Each city shall cause to be published a notice advising the public that such statement is available for review and copying at the city hall or recorder's office and shall publish the same 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 publication shall be the city.

Every city shall transmit to any resident of such city requesting the same a copy of any published such statement for the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a document listing the names of each person who received less than fifty dollars from any fund during such 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 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 statement a notice advising the public that such statement is available for review and copying at the town hall or recorder's office 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 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 recorder of the municipality and the mayor thereof and two members of the governing body of such municipality. As soon as practicable following the close of the fiscal year, a copy of any 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 fails or refuse refuses to perform any of the duties set forth in this section, every member of such governing body and the recorder thereof concurring in such failure or refusal shall be 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 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.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the requirement that municipalities incur the cost of publishing their annual financial statement. Instead, this bill requires them to prepare the financial statement in the same way as prior law, but to only publish a notice of where it is on file and available to the public for review and copying.

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