Arkansas lawmakers decided Friday to release withheld funding to 40 cities and towns and give them extra time to update the state on required water and sewer system audits.
The decision came after the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee spent two hours debating whether to give the municipalities further grace for their unfiled 2022 audit reports, which were due to the state July 1, 2024. Each municipality must provide the delinquent report to Arkansas Legislative Audit by Dec. 31 or an engagement letter with a certified public accountant promising the report will be submitted by that date. Lack of compliance will result in the state withholding funds again.
Local governments receive two types of “turnback funds” from the state. General revenue turnback funds support basic local services such as emergency response. Turnback funds from state highway revenue go to municipalities and are required to be spent on maintaining roads that are continuations of state highways or former state highways…