The Kentucky House voted 96-1 Friday to require special taxing districts and similar entities to provide their administrative and financial information to the state to be posted online.
House Bill 1, sponsored by Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg) would require the state’s more than 1,200 special districts to submit the information to the Department for Local Government to be placed in an online registry to make the districts more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. State Auditor Adam Edelen estimates that the special districts spend around $2.7 billion in public money per year.
“This is not a bill that’s in response to bad conduct,” Stumbo said. “House Bill 1 sets up and clarifies the reporting requirements and the auditing standards. It adds teeth to compliance. It establishes education and ethics provisions. … It’s a step in the right direction to bringing some sanity to how statutes interact.”
Rep. Lynn Bechler (R-Marion) was the lone dissenting vote on the measure. He said seeing the read light indicating a no vote on the roll call board was a little uncomfortable while 96 green lights showed approval of the measure, but he was simply voting his conscience. Bechler explains his vote in his legislative column in this week's issue of The Crittenden Press.
Crittenden County property owners pay in almost as much to special taxing districts—Extension service, library and health board—as they do to the fiscal court's coffers each year. Property owners along the Tradewater River also pay into the Lower Tradewater River Floodplain special district.
