Request By:
Mr. William Wiley
Legislative Research Commission Staff
Capitol Building
Frankfort, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
As a staff member of the Legislative Research Commission you review opinions of the Attorney General which relate to county government. You recently reviewed OAG 83-392, in which we concluded that, since a riverport authority is a public or governmental agency or corporation, KRS 424.220 applies to a riverport authority. Thus we said a riverport authority must observe the publication of its annual financial statement, as described in KRS 424.220.
You observed that we did not refer to KRS 65.060 and 65.070. KRS 65.065 through 65.140 deal with special districts. KRS 65.060 provides in part that as used in KRS 65.065 (relating to budgets and audits) and 65.070 (relating to the filing of certain district information), the term "district" shall mean and the provisions of KRS 65.065 and 65.070 shall apply to any board, commission or special district created pursuant to the following statutes: . . . . KRS 65.510 to 65.650.
KRS 65.070 reads:
"(1) At least once every twelve (12) months, a district shall:
"(a) File with the county clerk of each county with territory in the district a certification showing the name of the district, a map or general description of its service area, the statutory authority under which it was created, and the names and addresses of the members of its governing body and chief executive officer;
"(b) File a copy of the district budget, financial statement if prepared, and audit when performed, with the county judge/executive of each county with territory in the district;
"(c) Publish, in lieu of the provisions of KRS 424.220, but in compliance with other applicable provisions of KRS Chapter 424, the names and addresses of the members of its governing body and chief executive officer, and either a summary financial statement which includes the location of supporting documents, or the location of district financial records which may be examined by the public.
"(2) The finance and administration cabinet shall prepare and furnish to county clerks standard reporting forms which districts may use to comply with the provisions of this section."
It is clear, at this point, that riverport authorities, created under KRS 65.510 through 65.650, constitute "districts", as used in KRS 65.065 and 65.070. The language in KRS 65.060 is specific, clear, and unambiguous.
Further, under the express terms of KRS 65.070(1)(b) and (c), a riverport authority (created under KRS 65.510 through 65.650) must at least annually file a copy of the district budget, financial statement if prepared, and audit when performed, with the county judge executive of each county with territory in the district. In addition, the riverport authority must, at least once each twelve (12) months, publish, in lieu of the provisions of KRS 424.220, but in compliance with other applicable provisions of KRS Chapter 424, the names and addresses of the members of its governing body and chief executive officer, and either a summary financial statement which includes the location of supporting documents, or the location of district financial records which may be examined by the public.
CONCLUSION
It is our opinion that a riverport authority, created pursuant to KRS 65.510 through 65.650, is required to publish an annual financial statement consistent with the requirements of KRS 65.070(1)(c), in lieu of the provisions of KRS 424.220. Such statement must also be in compliance with other applicable provisions (other than 424.220) of KRS Chapter 424. See for example KRS 424.110, 424.120, and 424.130. KRS 65.070(1)(b) requires the riverport authority to file at least annually a copy of its financial statement, when prepared, and its audit, when performed, with the county judge executive of each county with territory in such district. Under KRS 65.065(2), the riverport authority must, at least once every four (4) years, employ an independent certified public accountant, or contract with the auditor of public accounts, to perform an audit of the funds in the riverport authority's budget. A unit of government furnishing funds directly to a riverport authority may require additional audits at its own expense. Under KRS 65.065(2), if a district is required by law to audit its funds more often than once every four (4) years, it must do so. But when the audit required by this subsection is performed, no other local audit shall be required. We are not aware of any statute requiring riverport authorities to procure an audit of its funds more often than the once-every-four-years provision of KRS 65.065(2). OAG 83-392 is modified accordingly.