Request By:
Mr. Brian Paulsen
Public Administration Specialist
Lincoln Trail Area Development District
702 College Street Road
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of October 13 in which you refer to the possible conflicting publication requirements with respect to the publication of a city's financial statement in place of its audit, found under KRS 424.220 and KRS 91A.040(8). You relate the following facts and question:
"According to KRS 91A.040(7), 'If the city other than a city of the first or second class or urban county government elects to publish the financial statement prepared in accordance with KRS 424.220 in lieu of publishing the auditor's report, it shall, within sixty (60) days after the completion of the audit, publish such statements in accordance with KRS Chapter 424.'
According to 424.220, 'The officer shall, except in a city electing to publish its audit in lieu of the financial statement pursuant to subsection (6) of Section 1 of this Act, within sixty (60) days after the close of the fiscal year, cause the statement to be published in full in a newspaper qualified under KRS 424.120 to publish advertisements for the city, county or district, as the case may be.'
As you will note, KRS 91A.040(7) states 60 days after completion of the audit whereas, KRS 424.220 states 60 days after the close of the fiscal year. Can you please tell me which time frame I would advise the LTADD cities to follow, 424.220 or 91A.040(7)?"
We agree that there does appear to be a conflict between the two statutes which were enacted or amended in the same act of the 1982 legislative session, namely Chapter 430 (4) and (7) of the acts, the latter being recorded as subsection (8) in the statutes.
To begin with, KRS 91A.040(1) requires each city except those of the sixth class and those qualifying under the audit exemption found in KRS 91A.041 to audit its funds no later than 270 days after the close of each fiscal year. KRS 91A.040(8) referred to previously is entirely new legislation and requires that if the city elects to publish the financial statement prepared in accordance with KRS 424.220 in lieu of publishing the auditor's report, it shall, within 60 days after completion of the audit publish such statement in accordance with Chapter 424.
KRS 424.220 also referred to above obviously conflicts with the two previously mentioned statutes where it requires the publication of the financial statement within 60 days after the close of the fiscal year, however, this statute is general in nature and applies not only to cities but to counties, school districts and other districts less than a county with certain exceptions. Also, the 60 days requirement is not new legislation but is part of an initial publication act passed in 1958.
The basic rule of statutory construction is to the effect that a specific statute controls a more general statute. Heady v. Commonwealth, Ky., 597 S.W.2d 613 (1980).
It is thus clear that KRS 91A.040(8) is more specific in nature in applying solely to cities aside from the fact that it is new legislation, and would in our opinion prevail in its time requirement that is tied in with the 270-day time leeway permitted in KRS 91A.040(1) with regard to the preparation of the city's audit. Of course, all other requirements of Chapter 424 KRS must be complied with, with respect to such publication.