Dozens of Arkansas municipalities will continue to go without certain monthly state funds because they haven’t submitted required audits of their water and sewer systems.
The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee on Friday rejected a proposal to reverse a July vote that directed the state treasurer to withhold “turnback funds” from 43 cities and towns with outstanding 2022 water and sewer audits. The vote was close: seven lawmakers supported the motion, eight opposed, and five were present but did not vote. Several committee members were absent.
The committee had previously allowed a grace period for 40 municipalities that had not submitted reports for fiscal years 2022 through 2024. Only five of the flagged cities have since filed their audits or provided engagement letters promising submission by Dec. 31…