Senate Bill No. 330
(By Senators Wiedebusch and Chernenko)
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[Introduced February 11, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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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; and to amend and
reenact section twenty-three, article thirteen, chapter
eight of said code, all relating to the preparation,
publication and disposition of financial statements; and
allowing counties and municipalities to report receipts and
expenditures made to deputy sheriffs and members of
municipal fire companies and departments and municipal
police departments only in the aggregate in those financial
statements.
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; and that section twenty-three,
article thirteen, chapter eight 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.
(a) 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)
(1) the receipts and expenditures of the county during the
previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive headings, (b) (2)
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) (3) 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 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:
Provided,
That all salaries, receipts and expenditures to deputy
sheriffs shall be reported in the aggregate.
(b) 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 from any fund during such fiscal year showingthe amount paid to each and the purpose for which paid.
(c) If a county commission wilfully willfully fail or refuse
to perform the duties hereinbefore named, every member of such
commission, concurring in such failure or refusal, shall be
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 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 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.
(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 (a) (1) the receipts and expenditures of the
city during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive
headings, (b) (2) 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) (3) 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 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:
Provided,
That all salaries, receipts and expenditures to
employees of municipal fire companies and departments and
municipal police departments shall be reported only in the
aggregate.
(b) Every city shall transmit to any resident of such city
requesting the same 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 fifty dollars from
any fund during such fiscal year and showing the amount paid to
each and the purpose for which paid.
(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 (a) (1) the receipts and expenditures of the town or
village during the previous fiscal year arranged under
descriptive headings, (b) (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 (c) (3) all debts of the town or village, the purpose for
which each debt was contracted, its due date, and to what datethe interest thereon has been paid:
Provided,
That all salaries,
receipts and expenditures to employees of municipal fire
companies and departments and municipal police departments shall
be reported only in the aggregate.
(d) 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 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.
(e) 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 or refuse 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, shallbe 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 allow counties and
municipalities to report receipts and expenditures made to deputy
sheriffs and members of municipal fire companies and departments
and municipal police departments only in the aggregate when
preparing and publishing required publications.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.