WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
A proposal allowing local recreational authority boards to spend more of their budgets on improving Michigan communities was unanimously approved in a state House vote this week.
House Bill 4408 changes audit requirements from annual to once every two years for authority boards that do not levy taxes.
Endorsed by State Rep. Aaron Miller, the bill now advances to the Senate for further consideration.
In some cases, Miller said, authorities will spend nearly half their annual budgets on audits to be in compliance with current law. But, he noted, current law is far too burdensome and the requirement takes too much money away from real projects that can deliver a better quality of life for residents.
Miller last month was joined in testimony before the House Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee by Lindsay Oswald, who serves as St. Joseph County clerk and volunteer director for Three Rivers-based River Country Recreational Authority.
Miller explained this change would still keep proper safeguards in place to head off instances of fiscal irregularity or misuse of funds.
