Despite a September vote allowing a grace period for communities behind on submitting their Water/Sewer Audit Reports, money continues to be withheld from many of those communities.
In a recap of the situation from the Arkansas Advocate, the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee had taken a vote in July to withhold what is called "Turnback Funds" from the state for the over 40 communities that were several years behind on filing required Audit Reports for the municipalities Water and Sewer Departments. Those turnback funds are supplied by the state used to help with basic services and road maintenance.
That same committee took a vote in September to give a grace period until the end of the year so the communities, many with small populations, could keep the funds coming in while catching up with the reports.
The latest development happened this past week as at the request of Arkansas State Treasurer John Thurston, Attorney General Tim Griffin's Office released a Legal Opinion stating that the treasurer could not legally restore the funding unless the July vote was expunged. A proposal to do that failed to pass the committee last week.
Three Lakes Area Communities are on the list of delinquent audit reports with Lead Hill not filing Water and Sewer Reports since 2022 while Valley Springs has not filed Sewer Reports since 2022. In addition, the city of Flippin is on the list for not having submitted Water and Sewer Reports since 2023.
More details can be found with the Arkansas Advocate Story posted on the KTLO Website.
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