Why was additional legislation introduced in the 2014 legislative session?

Legislators over the past few sessions had raised concerns to the Legislative Services Office (LSO) and prepared draft legislation to address concerns about the ability to access financial information related to local governments and special districts across the state. However, prior to the 2014 legislative session, nothing had been voted out of committee for a full floor hearing.


Additionally, the Legislative Services Office-Audits Division receives calls from constituents asking for financial statements or audits for a variety of local governing entities and we did not have a good directory of entities or consistent submission of audit reports. The combination of this concern and legislator interest led to the identification of a study report.


January 2014, LSO issued a report on local government financial reporting and compliance with Idaho Code. The objectives of the report were:

  • Identify the number of local governing entities in Idaho
  • Determine how the entities are monitored, both operationally and financially
  • Determine compliance with Idaho Code Section 67-450B


The report contained three findings:

  • No budget data is submitted which makes it difficult to determine whether local governments are complying
  • No central registry exists, which makes it difficult to determine who should be submitting audit reports
  • No enforcement mechanism exists for noncompliance


The report’s recommendations were:

  • Amend the statute to include a notification and enforcement process for noncompliance
  • Establish a central registry to provide a comprehensive list of all local governing entities authorized to operate within the State of Idaho
  • Require all local governing entities to submit an approved budget


The resulting legislation passed and was signed into law March 26, 2014. House Bill 560 passed by the 2014 Legislature to address the findings in the special report. Support for the bill was unanimous, passing the House 68-0 with 2 absent and the Senate 35-0 with one absent. It was then signed by the Governor on March 26, 2014, with an effective date of January 1, 2015.

Show All Answers

1. Why are we creating a registry portal?
2. What is required under Idaho Code 67-450B and C?
3. Why was additional legislation introduced in the 2014 legislative session?
4. What are the new requirements in House Bill Number 560 codified in Idaho Code Section 67-450E?
5. What are local governing entities required to do?
6. What will be on the registry portal?
7. What are some examples of possible reporting due dates?
8. How are the Legislative Services Office and counties affected?
9. What penalties are in place for noncompliance with the requirements included in Idaho Code Section 67-450E?
10. What items are needed prior to registering an entity?