Missouri Senate

House Committee Substitute

PUBLISHING OF COUNTY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Sections 50.815 & 50.820)

This act changes the date counties shall prepare and publish their financial statements from the first Monday in March to June 30th of each year. Additionally, the county treasurer shall not pay the county commission until notice is received from the state auditor that the county's financial statement has been published in a newspaper after the first day of July.

This act also requires second, third, and fourth class counties to produce and publish a county annual financial statement in the same manner as counties of the first classification. The financial statement shall include the name, office, and current gross annual salary of each elected or appointed county official.

The county clerk or other county officer preparing the financial statement shall provide an electronic copy of the data used to create the financial statement without charge to the newspaper requesting the data.

Finally, the newspaper publishing the financial statement shall charge and receive no more than its regular local classified advertising rate as published 30 days before the publication of the financial statement.

These provisions are identical to provisions in SS/SCS/HCS/HB 1606 (2022), SS/SCS/SB 725 (2022), SB 845 (2022), and SB 1191 (2022) and substantially similar to SB 1541 (2022) and HB 381 (2021).

QUALIFICATIONS FOR CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE (Section 115.036)

This act provides that any person who files as a candidate for election to a public office that performs county functions in the city of St. Louis shall provides copies of paid tax receipts or no-tax-due statements that indicate the person has paid all taxes due. The election authority shall review and affirm the tax payments.

Additionally, the election authority shall verify there is no ethics complaint filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission against the candidate. The candidate's name shall not be placed on a ballot until any ethics complaint has been resolved.

These provisions are identical to provisions in HB 1647 (2022).

SALARIES OF COUNTY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS (Section 473.742)

Currently, if a public administrator of a second, third, or fourth class county or of the City of St. Louis elects to be placed on salary, the salary is determined by a schedule based on the average number of open letters in the two years preceding the term in which the salary is elected. This act provides that every public administrator who begins his or her term on or after January 1, 2023, shall be deemed to have elected to receive such salary. This act also provides that a letter of guardianship and a letter of conservatorship shall be counted as separate letters. Additionally, it shall be two letters if the public administrator is appointed by the court as both a guardian and a conservator to the same ward or protectee.

Furthermore, this act provides that upon majority approval by the salary commission, a public administrator may be paid according to the assessed valuation schedule set forth in the act. If the salary commission elects to pay a public administrator according to the assessed valuation schedule, the salary commission shall not elect to change at any future time to pay the public administrator according to the average number of open letters in lieu of paying them according to the assessed valuation schedule.

These provisions are identical to provisions in SS/SCS/HCS/HB 1606 (2022), SB 1088 (2022) and substantially similar to HB 2450 (2022) and HB 2450 (2021) and is similar to SB 803 (2020).

MARY GRACE PRINGLE