BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 341 |Hearing |6/10/15 |
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|Author: |Achadjian |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |5/5/15 |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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LOCAL GOVERNMENTS' FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS REPORTS
Makes several changes to the statutes requiring local
governments to report annual financial information to the State
Controller's Office.
Background
The State Controller must compile and publish reports of the
financial transactions of local governments, including counties,
cities, special districts, and joint powers authorities. Local
governments must, within 90 to 110 days of the end of their
respective fiscal years, furnish the State Controller with
annual reports of their financial transactions.
Because the deadlines by which local governments must submit
annual financial transactions data to the State Controller often
fall before the date on which audited financial information for
the prior fiscal year is available, the data submitted to the
Controller is often imprecise and requires revisions before it
is published by the Controller. Local officials want the
Legislature to change the timelines for submitting some local
financial information to the Controller and make additional
changes to state law to ensure that local government financial
transactions information is more accurate and accessible when it
is made available to the public.
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Proposed Law
I. Local government reports to the Controller . Current law
requires the officer of each local agency who has charge of the
agency's financial records to furnish to the State Controller a
report of all the local agency's financial transactions during
the prior fiscal year. The report must be filed either within
90 days of the end of a local agency's fiscal year or, if it is
filed electronically, within 110 days of the end of a local
agency's fiscal year. Assembly Bill 341:
Extends, to seven months after the end of a local
agency's fiscal year, the deadline for submitting to the
Controller an annual report of a local agency's financial
transactions.
Requires the report to contain underlying data from
audited financial statements prepared in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles, if the data is
available.
Current law requires that, upon the completion of the annual
report submitted to the Controller's Office, a local
government's legislative body must cause copies of the report to
be prepared and the clerk of the legislative body must furnish a
copy to any person requesting it. Assembly Bill 341, as an
alternative to furnishing paper copies of the report upon
request, allows a legislative body to post the report in a
conspicuous location on its Internet Website.
Current law requires that the annual report submitted to the
Controller, must state the annual compensation of a local
agency's elected officials, officers, and employees in
accordance with reporting instructions developed by the
Controller, in consultation with affected local agencies.
Assembly Bill 341 requires that a local agency must submit to
the Controller, specified annual compensation information for
the previous calendar year no later than April 30th.
II. Controller's published reports . Current law requires the
Controller, subject to specified statutory requirements, to
compile and publish annual reports of the financial transactions
of each county, city, and special district on or before August
1st, September 1st, and October 1st respectively following the
AB 341 (Achadjian) 5/5/15 Page 3
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end of the annual reporting period. Assembly Bill 341 instead
requires the Controller to compile and publish reports, of the
financial transactions of each county, city, and special
district on or before November 1st of each year following the
end of the annual reporting period.
III. Other provisions . Assembly Bill 341 repeals a provision
of law which establishes a separate reporting deadline, for a
local agency that reports specified information to the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development.
Assembly Bill 341 repeals an obsolete deadline, for a community
redevelopment agency to submit annual financial transactions
information to the Controller.
Assembly Bill 341 makes other technical and conforming changes
to current law.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comment
1. Purpose of the bill . Because current law requires local
governments to submit annual financial transactions reports to
the State Controller within 90 to 110 days of the end of a
fiscal year, those reports typically are submitted before the
completion of an independent audit of the prior year's fiscal
transactions. After independent audits are completed, local
governments frequently have to resubmit reports to the
Controller's Office with additional or corrected information
that is identified in the audit. Submitting incomplete or
unaudited data can create confusion for the public and
additional work for both the State Controller's office and the
local agency staff to update information to reflect final
audits. By extending the period of time during which a local
agency can submit the report to the Controller's office and
requiring that the report will contain data from audited
financial statements, if the data is available, AB 341 will
provide the public with more accurate information about local
governments' financial transactions and saves public agencies'
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time and resources.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
Assembly Floor: 74-0
Support and
Opposition (6/4/15)
Support : California Special Districts Association; California
State Association of Counties; League of California Cities.
Opposition : Unknown.
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