A bill for an act relating to city finances.

House

File

2524

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2524

BY

WULF

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

city

finances.

1

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

2

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Section

1.

Section

11.6,

subsection

1,

paragraph

a,

1

subparagraph

(1),

Code

2026,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

(1)

Except

for

entities

organized

under

chapter

28E

having

3

gross

receipts

of

one

hundred

thousand

dollars

or

less

in

a

4

fiscal

year,

the

financial

condition

and

transactions

of

all

5

government

subdivisions

shall

be

audited

annually,

except

6

that

cities

having

a

population

of

less

than

two

thousand

7

and

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

one

million

dollars

or

8

more

in

a

fiscal

year

shall

be

subject

to

a

required

fiscal

9

year

examination

an

audit

for

that

fiscal

year

according

to

10

procedures

established

by

the

office

of

auditor

of

state,

11

and

cities

having

a

population

of

less

than

two

thousand

and

12

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

less

than

one

million

dollars

13

in

a

fiscal

year

shall

be

subject

to

periodic

examination

by

14

the

auditor

of

state

according

to

procedures

established

by

the

15

auditor

of

state,

and

may

be

examined

as

otherwise

provided

16

in

this

section

.

However,

a

city

having

a

population

of

less

17

than

two

thousand

and

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

one

18

million

dollars

or

more

in

a

fiscal

year

shall

not

be

subject

19

to

a

required

fiscal

year

examination

until

the

city

has

two

20

consecutive

years

of

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

one

million

21

dollars

or

more

in

both

fiscal

years,

and

such

examination

22

shall

be

conducted

during

the

second

of

such

fiscal

years.

23

A

city

meeting

the

requirements

for

a

periodic

examination

24

shall

be

subject

to

an

examination

under

this

section

at

least

25

once

during

an

eight-year

period

at

a

time

determined

by

the

26

auditor

of

state

an

audit

at

least

once

every

five

years

.

27

The

audit

of

school

districts

shall

include

an

audit

of

all

28

school

funds

including

categorical

funding

provided

by

the

29

state,

the

certified

annual

financial

report,

the

certified

30

enrollment

as

provided

in

section

257.6

,

supplementary

31

weighting

as

provided

in

section

257.11

,

the

revenues

and

32

expenditures

of

any

nonprofit

school

organization

established

33

pursuant

to

section

279.62

,

and

entrepreneurial

education

34

funds

established

pursuant

to

section

298A.15

.

Differences

in

35

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certified

enrollment

shall

be

reported

to

the

department

of

1

management.

The

audit

of

school

districts

shall

include

at

a

2

minimum

a

determination

that

the

laws

of

the

state

are

being

3

followed,

that

categorical

funding

is

not

used

to

supplant

4

other

funding

except

as

otherwise

provided,

that

supplementary

5

weighting

is

pursuant

to

an

eligible

sharing

condition,

and

6

that

postsecondary

courses

provided

in

accordance

with

section

7

257.11

and

chapter

261E

supplement,

rather

than

supplant,

8

school

district

courses.

The

audit

of

a

city

that

owns

or

9

operates

a

municipal

utility

providing

local

exchange

services

10

pursuant

to

chapter

476

shall

include

performing

tests

of

11

the

city’s

compliance

with

section

388.10

.

The

audit

of

a

12

city

that

owns

or

operates

a

municipal

utility

providing

13

telecommunications

services

pursuant

to

section

388.10

shall

14

include

performing

tests

of

the

city’s

compliance

with

section

15

388.10

.

16

Sec.

2.

Section

372.13,

subsection

6,

Code

2026,

is

amended

17

to

read

as

follows:

18

6.

Within

fifteen

days

following

a

regular

or

special

19

meeting

of

the

council,

the

clerk

shall

cause

the

minutes

of

20

the

proceedings

of

the

council,

including

the

total

expenditure

21

from

each

city

fund,

to

be

delivered

to

a

newspaper

of

general

22

circulation

in

the

city

for

publication.

The

publication

shall

23

include

a

list

of

all

claims

allowed

and

a

summary

of

all

24

receipts

and

shall

show

the

gross

amount

of

the

claims.

The

25

list

of

claims

allowed

shall

show

the

name

of

the

person

or

26

firm

making

the

claim,

the

reason

for

the

claim,

and

the

amount

27

of

the

claim.

If

the

reason

for

the

claims

is

the

same,

two

28

or

more

claims

made

by

the

same

vendor,

supplier,

or

claimant

29

may

be

consolidated

if

the

number

of

claims

consolidated

30

and

the

total

consolidated

claim

amount

are

listed

in

the

31

statement.

However,

the

city

shall

provide

at

its

office

upon

32

request

an

unconsolidated

list

of

all

claims

allowed.

Matters

33

discussed

in

closed

session

pursuant

to

section

21.3

shall

not

34

be

published

until

entered

on

the

public

minutes.

For

cities

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with

a

population

of

less

than

two

thousand,

the

requirement

to

1

provide

a

list

of

all

claims

allowed

includes

the

full

detailed

2

statement

of

expenditures

from

any

city-owned

credit

and

debit

3

cards.

However,

in

cities

having

more

than

one

hundred

fifty

4

thousand

population,

the

council

shall

each

month

print

in

5

pamphlet

form

a

detailed

itemized

statement

of

all

receipts

and

6

disbursements

of

the

city,

and

a

summary

of

its

proceedings

7

during

the

preceding

month,

and

furnish

copies

to

the

city

8

library,

the

daily

newspapers

of

the

city,

and

to

persons

who

9

apply

at

the

office

of

the

city

clerk,

and

the

pamphlet

shall

10

constitute

publication

as

required.

Failure

by

the

clerk

to

11

make

publication

is

a

simple

misdemeanor.

The

provisions

of

12

this

subsection

are

applicable

in

cities

in

which

a

newspaper

13

is

published,

or

in

cities

of

two

hundred

population

or

over,

14

but

in

all

other

cities,

posting

the

statement

in

three

public

15

places

in

the

city

which

that

have

been

permanently

designated

16

by

ordinance

is

sufficient

compliance

with

this

subsection

.

17

EXPLANATION

18

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

19

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

20

This

bill

relates

to

city

finances.

21

Under

current

law,

all

government

subdivisions

are

subject

22

to

a

fiscal

year

examination

annually,

with

exceptions

23

for

certain

entities

and

cities.

Such

examination

checks

24

the

financial

condition

and

transactions

of

the

government

25

subdivisions.

Cities

with

a

population

of

less

than

2,000

and

26

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

less

than

$1

million

in

a

fiscal

27

year

are

subject

to

periodic

examination

by

the

auditor.

A

28

city

with

a

population

of

less

than

2,000

and

budgeted

gross

29

expenditures

of

$1

million

or

more

in

a

fiscal

year

shall

not

30

be

subject

to

a

required

fiscal

year

examination

until

the

city

31

has

two

consecutive

years

of

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

32

$1

million

or

more

in

both

fiscal

years,

and

such

examination

33

shall

be

conducted

during

the

second

of

such

fiscal

years.

A

34

city

meeting

the

requirements

for

a

periodic

examination

shall

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be

subject

to

an

examination

at

least

once

during

an

eight-year

1

period

at

a

time

determined

by

the

auditor

of

state.

2

The

bill

removes

the

fiscal

year

examination

provisions,

and

3

instead

requires

an

audit.

The

bill

also

modifies

the

schedule

4

for

the

smaller

cities.

All

cities

with

a

population

of

less

5

than

2,000

and

budgeted

gross

expenditures

of

less

than

$1

6

million

in

a

fiscal

year

are

subject

to

an

audit

at

least

once

7

every

five

years.

8

Under

current

law,

city

clerks

must

publish

minutes

from

9

city

council

meetings.

Within

15

days

of

a

city

council

10

meeting,

the

clerk

must

publish

the

minutes

of

the

proceedings,

11

including

the

total

expenditure

from

each

city

fund,

to

be

12

delivered

to

a

newspaper

of

general

circulation

in

the

city

13

for

publication.

The

publication

shall

include

a

list

of

all

14

claims

allowed

and

a

summary

of

all

receipts

and

shall

show

the

15

gross

amount

of

the

claims.

The

bill

adds,

that

for

cities

16

with

a

population

of

less

than

2,000,

this

requirement

includes

17

the

full

detailed

statement

of

expenditures

from

any

city-owned

18

credit

and

debit

cards.

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