Prince Chestnut advances bill to clarify municipal audit process

On March 15 Rep. Prince Chestnut advanced a bill to clarify the municipal audit process and allow municipalities with certain amounts of expenditures to perform audits differently than others. 

According to a press release from Chestnut the bill, titled HB 256, will relieve municipalities struggling with its expenditures.

The press release explained that each town or city is required to have an audit performed annually. But smaller towns may struggle with audits due to costs. 

The bill would allow municipalities that have annual expenditures of less than $300,000 but more than $100,00 to perform audits biennially though those audits will have to cover each fiscal year since the preceding audit.

For those that have less than $100,000 the bill allows them to make "an annual report of agreed upon procedures as prescribed by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts and that report shall be provided to the Department of Examiners. These annual reports will also be required to be spread upon the minutes of the council upon the first meeting after the report is completed."

Municipalities that have more than $300,000 in expenditures will still be required to perform annual audits. 

"The bill now moves to the Senate. We are going to facilitate its movement in the Senate," Chestnut said. "I do not anticipate any problems with this bill up there because it is an accountability bill, a transparency bill and a relief bill to the municipalities that struggle to stay afloat."