Request By:
Mr. T. Jack Eversole
Executive Director
Barren River Area
Development District
P.O. Box 2120
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
KRS 65.065 and 65.070 relate to budget requirements for special districts. KRS 65.060 provides that the term "district", as used in KRS 65.065 and 65.070, includes area development districts.
Question No. 1:
"Must special districts utilize the budget forms provided by the Department for Local Government?"
Under KRS 65.065 the governing body of each district shall annually prepare a budget, and, as appropriate, shall classify budget units in the same fashion as county budgets are classified pursuant to KRS 68.240(2) through (5). This simply means that the district must use budget classifications which are designed to reflect the statutory function and funding of the particular district. An area development district, for example, is primarily a planning unit. It therefore would not need various classifications found necessary by counties. The state local finance officer, pursuant to KRS 65.065(1), is required to prepare standard budget forms for district use, and must furnish them to county clerks for distribution to district officers.
The answer to this question is that the district must use the budget forms prepared by the state local finance officer. He has the authority to devise and tailor the forms to suit the precise needs of the particular district, keeping in mind a basic uniformity where uniformity is possible. See KRS 68.250 (county budgets) . Thus in reading KRS 65.065, 65.070, and 68.250 together, we conclude that the state local finance officer may change any form or classification of district budgets, and may devise a budget form designed to accommodate federally approved budget forms where federal funding of the district is involved. See Federal Office of Management and Budget Circular A-102 (9/12/77). See Economy Optical Co. v. Kentucky Board of Opt. Exam., Ky., 310 S.W.2d 783 (1958), reciting the rule that statutes in pari materia (same subject matter) should be construed together, if possible, to give effect to each.
Question No. 2:
"Must special districts adopt a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year? "
The fiscal year for counties is July 1 through the next following June 30. All county budgets must be made with reference to specific fiscal years or fractions thereof. KRS 68.060. The district is required to file a copy of the district budget, at least once every twelve (12) months, with the county judge/executive of each county with territory in the district. KRS 65.070(1)(b).
Since KRS 65.065 and 65.070 do not spell out the fiscal year explicitly, it is our opinion, under the doctrine of pari materia, that the legislature intended that districts should have the same fiscal year as counties, i.e., from July 1 to June 30. See KRS 68.060.
Question No. 3:
"Must the budget forms provided by the Department for Local Government be operational budget forms or may they be utilized simply as informational budgets? "
Since KRS 65.065(1) provides that the "state local finance officer shall prepare standard budget forms for district use. . ." (emphasis added), it is our opinion that the district budget forms properly used by the district should be considered as the operational budget, not merely as an informational document. See KRS 65.070(1)(b).
A financial statement of the district, showing receipts and expenditures for the fiscal period involved, if prepared and published, must comply with KRS 65.070(1)(b) and (c) and KRS Chapter 424.