A southern Kentucky lawmaker has introduced a new bipartisan bill to simplify auditing requirements for the state’s volunteer fire departments.
The departments are currently required to file an annual report with the Department for Local Government and have an external audit every year. The Bowling Green Daily News reports those audits can cost 25-hundred dollars or more.
Under legislation proposed by Republican Representative Michael Meredith, volunteer fire departments would file an annual report with the Fire Commission, and be audited for free by the commission.
The proposed legislation would only apply to departments with budgets that operate using donations, grants and fees. Meredith said he filed the bill after meeting in the fall with the local volunteer fire departments.
