KLC Executive Director/CEO J.D. Chaney and Director of Public Affairs Bryanna L. Carroll testified on Wednesday as committees passed four KLC initiatives. Two of the measures are now headed to the Senate for final passage.
The House Local Government Committee approved Senate Bill 111, Senate Bill 112, and Senate Bill 152.
Senator Wil Schroder (R-Wilder) sponsored Senate Bill 112, which encourages interlocal agreements by removing the need for repeated filings with the Secretary of State. Current law requires every entity involved in the agreement to submit an amended copy to the Secretary of State whenever there is any change, no matter how slight.
Senator Stephen West (R-Paris) sponsored SB 152 to save cities time and money when they need to transfer a waste management franchise to a private company. Current law requires up to 18 months of hearings and has filing requirements that ultimately require a city to serve notice on itself of the intention to change. Senate Bill 152 allows a local government to award a solid waste franchise if the local government has exclusively provided solid waste service in the proposed area.
Senator Rick Girdler (R-Somerset) sponsored Senate Bill 111 to correct language inadvertently added during the 2021 Regular Session regarding local-only tax increment finance (TIF).
The Senate State and Local Government Committee passed House Bill 297, which includes language protecting County Employees Retirement System (CERS) assets. Representative Jerry Miller (R-Louisville) sponsored the measure that includes language sunsetting the current process of billing CERS for numerous Kentucky Retirement System (KRS) charges.
House Bill 484 (2021) allocated expenses for creating a separate CERS Board of Trustees to CERS. Sunsetting that provision on June 30, 2024, provides plenty of time to compensate for initial separation costs.
The measure allows Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) to hire additional investment staff outside of KRS Chapter 39 A, which restricts state salaries. The limitation has made it difficult for KPPA to hire investment managers. Carroll also testified on a Senate Committee substitute adopted on Wednesday that adds a level of supervision on administration expenses. “The bill requires KPPA to report the annual allocation of administrative expenses as well as the investment expenses for the CER and KRS boards by November 15 of each year,” she reported.
The bill also ensures assets in each fund are correctly attributed.
