Concerning financial statements, they’ve got it turned around

I invite you to compare the annual financial statement recently published for the City of Gallatin (Jan. 26 edition) and the annual financial statement for Daviess County printed elsewhere in today’s edition. The former provides summary statements and, frankly, does not inform. The latter also summarizes (can you see what benefits are paid to each officeholder?), when compared to the warrant-by-warrant statements of times past – but still itemizes to the degree that you get a good sense of the county’s business and who the county does its business with.

You tell me, which do you prefer?

If State Rep. Bob Johnson has his way, this year’s full statement will be the last one you’ll see.

Johnson, a Republican legislator from Lee’s Summit, this year introduced House Bill 58, which, in a nutshell, would reduce the current county financial statement to a basic balance sheet, void of the details it has donned for decades.

The end result?

A lack of public information.

Problem is, there’s talk that House Bill 58 will become law.

County officials from across the state support Johnson’s legislation. Testimony on the bill began earlier this month in the House Local Government Committee. In the first round of testimony, there were plenty present to pledge their support to Johnson’s bill, including the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) and the Missouri Municipal League (MML).

Daviess County is a member of MAC, and I suppose the good outweighs the bad (but remember when MAC led the charge for associate commissioner pay raises in the late 1990s — the same mid-term raises that you didn’t vote for and that the Missouri Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional?). MAC’s support to water down the county’s annual financial statement to a basic summary sheet is a bad idea. It is a stunning example of your tax dollars at work …against you.

MAC is subsidized with your tax dollars. Looking at the financial statement printed today, Daviess County’s annual membership dues are almost $900 (by the way, the county’s financial statement printed in this edition costs $600). Our own county commissioners may not support any change to the presentation of the annual county financial statement, but through their MAC membership they do indirectly support the change.

If you’re a resident of Gallatin, even more of your tax dollars are at work against you on this matter. The City of Gallatin is a member of the MML, also arguing for a watered-down county financial statement. The city’s most-recent annual dues to the MML cost $395; the city’s financial statement printed July 26th cost about $80.

Regarding House Bill 58, the fact is that Johnson’s bill is being driven by the MAC and the state’s county commissioners. The MML gladly has aided the cause, as Gary Merkenson of the MML even suggested in testimony that all public notices, such as financial statements, should be posted on government websites instead of published in newspapers. If his point is access, we’ll stack the cost of our 50-cent newspaper against the multiplying costs of computers and Internet access any day.

What’s worse is that when this bill was discussed by the Missouri House earlier this month, the committee room was filled with county commissioners from across the state who were in the state capitol for “three days of training” with the MAC. What was the cost of that training, which included hotel rooms, meals and mileage reimbursement?

In most instances, county by county, it’s safe to say that it was more than the amount paid to publish the county financial statements that the MAC is working to eliminate.

The county’s financial statement puts many details of public record at your fingertips. But they won’t be if House Bill 58 passes.

We’re not placing blame for this bad legislation at the feet of the Daviess County Commission, the county itself or the City of Gallatin. To my knowledge, no public official from Daviess County has testified in support of House Bill 58. However, we do want it pointed out that your tax dollars, which are spent by your public officials in the form of respective MAC and MML dues, are aiding the cause to limit your accessibility to the county’s financial statement.

If you get a chance, ask our three county commissioners – David Tolen, David Holcomb, or Danny Heldenbrand – their views on House Bill 58. If they say anything other than they’re against it, then they aren’t working for your best interests. If they say they don’t know about it, then scratch your head and wonder what other business they’re missing.

Ask the same question of your elected city officials. Via their affiliation with the MML, they have a dog in the hunt.

Why should you care?

It’s simple, really. County governments don’t play by the same rules as other public bodies. For example, our county commission meets on Mondays, with no set agenda. That’s both good and bad. The good is that the commission is easily accessible to the public. And the bad is that, unlike a city council or school board, the public really has no idea what the commission’s agenda on any particular day entails.

That’s the benefit of the county financial statement. All expenditures are listed, to the last cent. There is full disclosure. And that’s the way public service should be. We would argue that if any change should be made, the City of Gallatin’s annual financial statement should more closely mirror the county’s.