On Wednesday, two bills I authored with Representative Rob Brooks passed both chambers of the Legislature. The bills updated requirements to ensure the efficient running of local government. The pieces of legislation now head to the Governor’s desk for his signature to become law.
There is an old requirement in the law requiring issuance of a surety bond for certain municipal officials. This law exists to protect the public from any misdeeds done on the public’s behalf by an employee. In many cases, errors and omissions insurance policies can provide better coverage at a lower cost than surety bonds. SB 122 gives local officials the option of choosing an insurance policy instead of a surety bond.
Municipalities collect property taxes to distribute them to all local governments, such as counties and school boards. To ensure efficient and timely transfer of funds, municipalities are required to either pass an ordinance mandating the transfers or issue a surety bond to cover any failure to deliver. SB 123 raises the surety bond threshold to protect everyone’s taxpayer dollars to ensure they go to the proper jurisdiction and are not misappropriated.
