Request By:
Mrs. Dorothy Wilson
Associate Publisher
Cave County Newspapers, Inc.
P.O. Box 546
Cave City, Kentucky 42127
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of November 3 in which you raise the following question:
"Please advise me at the earliest date possible the law in regard to carrying the city and school financial statements in the local papers."
The publication of financial statements by cities has been altered by the 1980 legislature pursuant to S.B. 18. Under this act, particularly KRS 91A.040, all cities are merely required to complete an annual audit of the city finances which must be published in summary form pursuant to KRS Chapter 424. Subsections (3) and (4) dealing with this subject read as follows:
"(3) Upon completion of an annual audit, the city shall forward two (2) copies of the audit report to the department for local government for information purposes.
"(4) Upon completion of an annual audit, the city shall publish a summary of the audit in accordance with KRS Chapter 424."
In view of the above, cities of all classes are now authorized to simply publish a summary of the annual audit required to be made of its finances thereby eliminating the detailed financial publication requirements found under KRS 424.220. See KRS 424.130(1)(a) for the time and period of publication.
City and county school districts, however, are still required to publish a detailed financial statement modified, however, by the terms of KRS 424.220, as pointed out in OAG 76-393, copy attached.