HF 2498 (LSB 5257HV (1) 88)

HOUSE FILE 2498

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 618)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the establishment of periodic examination fees from certain cities by the auditor of state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 11.6, subsection 11, paragraph a, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The auditor of state shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 17A to establish and collect a periodic examination fee from cities that are not required to have an audit or required fiscal year examination conducted pursuant to subsection 1 during a fiscal year. Such fees are due on March 31 each year. The auditor of state shall base the fees on a sliding scale, based on the city’s budgeted gross expenditures, to produce total revenue of not more than three hundred seventy-five six hundred thousand dollars for each fiscal year. However, cities that pay a filing fee for an audit or examination pursuant to subsection 10 during the fiscal year are not required to pay the examination fee. The funds collected shall be maintained in a segregated account for use by the office of the auditor of state in performing periodic examinations conducted pursuant to subsection 1. However, if the fees collected in one fiscal year exceed three hundred seventy-five six hundred thousand dollars, the auditor of state shall apply the excess funds to provide training to city officials on municipal financial management or shall contract with a qualified organization to provide such training. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any fees collected by the auditor of state for these purposes that remain unexpended at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state or any other fund but shall remain available for use for the following fiscal year for the purposes authorized in this subsection.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill concerns the authority of the auditor of state to establish a periodic examination fee to be collected from cities that are not otherwise required to have an audit or required fiscal year examination conducted during a fiscal year. The bill allows the auditor to base the fees in such a manner as to produce total revenue of not more than $600,000 in a fiscal year. Current law only allows the auditor to set fees that generate not more than $375,000 in total revenue in a fiscal year. Under current law, any moneys received in a fiscal year in excess of the revenue cap shall be used to provide training to city officials on municipal financial management.