06 LC
18 4148
Senate
Bill 202
By:
Senator Wiles of the 37th
AS PASSED
AS PASSED
AN
ACT
To
amend Article 1 of Chapter 81 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to local government budgets and audits, so as to provide for
additional grant certification requirements with respect to subrecipients and
units of local government; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
1 of Chapter 81 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to local government budgets and audits, is amended by striking Code Section
36-81-8.1, relating to grant certification with respect to subrecipients, and
inserting in its place a new Code Section 36-81-8.1 to read as
follows:
"36-81-8.1.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Subrecipient' means an entity that receives a grant of state funds from the
Governoŕs
emergency fund or from a special project appropriation through a local
government and shall also mean an entity which in turn receives all or any
portion of such grant funds from a subrecipient.
(2)
'Unit of local government' means, for purposes of this Code section and
notwithstanding paragraph (16) of Code Section 36-81-2, a:
(A)
Municipality, county, consolidated government, county school district,
independent school district, other political subdivision of the state, any
public agency or authority of any of the foregoing, or any combination of any of
the foregoing;
(B)
Regional development center;
(C)
Any public authority created by local Act or local constitutional amendment of
the General Assembly; or
(D)
Any public authority created by general law which applies to an area of less
than the entire state and which requires activation by a county or municipal
government.
(b)
Each grant of state funds to a recipient unit of local government from the
Governoŕs
emergency fund or from a special project appropriation in an amount greater than
$5,000.00 shall be conditioned upon the receipt by the state auditor of a
properly completed grant certification form. The form shall be designed by the
state auditor and shall be distributed with each covered grant as required by
this Code section. The grant certification form shall require the certification
by the recipient unit of local government and by the unit of local government
auditor that the grant funds were used solely for the express purpose or
purposes for which the grant was made. Such form shall be filed with the state
auditor in conjunction with the annual audit required under Code Sections
36-81-7, 50-6-6, or any other applicable Code section for each year in which
such grant funds are expended or remain unexpended by the unit of local
government. A recipient unit of local government which is not otherwise subject
to the annual audit requirements specified in this subsection shall file a grant
certification form with the state auditor no later than December 31 of each year
in which such grant funds are expended or remain unexpended. For grant funds to
subrecipients, the certification by the unit of local government auditor
required by this subsection may also be made by an in-house or internal auditor
of the unit of local government who meets the education requirements contained
in subparagraph (a)(3)(A) of Code Section 43-3-6. The cost of performing any
audit required by this subsection or paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of this
Code section shall be an eligible expense of the grant. However, the amount
charged shall not exceed 2 percent of the amount of the grant or $250.00 per
required audit, whichever is less. The unit of local government to whom the
grant is made may deduct the cost of any such audit from the funds disbursed to
the subrecipient.
(c)
Where the grant of state funds is for $5,000.00 or less, the grant shall require
submission to the state auditor of a properly completed grant certification form
as required by subsection (b) of this Code section except that only the unit of
local government need certify that the grant funds were used solely for the
express purpose or purposes for which the grant was made. However, where such
grant is to a subrecipient, the grant shall require submission to the unit of
local government of a notarized affidavit executed by the executive director,
president, chairperson, chief executive officer, or other responsible party
representing the subrecipient, by whatever name or title, to whom the grant
funds are disbursed. The affidavit shall certify under oath that the funds were
used solely for the express purpose or purposes for which the grant was made.
Such affidavit shall be submitted annually for each year that grant funds are
expended or remain unexpended according to a schedule established by the unit of
local government and shall be made on a form designed by the state auditor and
distributed with each covered grant as required by this Code
section.
(d)(1)
Notwithstanding subsection (b) or (c) of this Code section, the Governor, the
Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, or the Appropriations
Committee of the Senate shall have the right and authority to direct and require
any recipient unit of local government to obtain or perform an audit of any
grant of state funds from the
Governoŕs
emergency fund or from a special project appropriation, regardless of the amount
thereof.
(2)
Notwithstanding subsection (b) or (c) of this Code section, a recipient unit of
local government shall have the right or authority to obtain or perform an audit
of any grant of state funds to a subrecipient from the
Governoŕs
emergency fund or from a special project appropriation, regardless of the amount
thereof.
(e)
The failure to comply with the requirements of this Code section shall result in
a forfeiture of a state grant and the return to the state of any such grant
funds which have been received by the unit of local government. In the case of a
state grant awarded to a subrecipient, the subrecipient shall be responsible for
the return to the state of any such grant funds if it is determined that the
funds were not used for the express purpose or purposes for which the grant was
made. A grant recipient or subrecipient shall be ineligible to receive funds
from the
Governoŕs
emergency fund or from a special project appropriation until all unallowed
expenditures are returned to the state, except that a recipient unit of local
government shall not be ineligible for such funds where a subrecipient has not
used funds it received for the express purpose or purposes for which the grant
was made.
(f)
No subrecipient shall be considered an agent of the unit of local government or
be indemnified or held harmless by the unit of local government for any
negligence, misfeasance, or malfeasance of the subrecipient, and a recipient
unit of local government shall not be liable for any expenditure of state grant
funds by a
subrecipient."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.