Councilmember David Catania
Councilmember Sharon Ambrose
Councilmember Kathy Patterson
Councilmember Carol Schwartz
A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To amend the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Act of 1975 to require the Chairman of
an Advisory Neighborhood Commission to maintain a surety bond, to require Advisory
Neighborhood Commissions to submit certain documentation with quarterly financial reports
and to relinquish their checkbooks to the D.C. Auditor if they fail to file 2 consecutive
quarterly reports on time, and to reallocate quarterly allotments held in reserve for
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in order to provide funding for Advisory Neighborhood
Commissions in fiscal year l999.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as
the "Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Management Control and Funding Amendment Act
of 1999".
Sec. 2. Section 16 of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Act of 1975, effective
March 26, 1976 (D.C. Law 1-58; D.C. Code §1-264), is amended as follows:
(a) The second sentence of subsection 16(c) is amended to read as follows:
"The treasurer and Chairman of each Commission shall file with the District of
Columbia Auditor, and maintain in force during their occupancy of their respective
offices, a cash or surety bond in an amount and on a form satisfactory to the
Auditor."
(b) Paragraph 16(j)(1) is amended to read as follows:
"(1)(1) The treasurer of a Commission shall prepare a quarterly financial report
on a form provided by the Auditor. The financial report shall be presented to the
Commission for its consideration at a public meeting of the Commission within 45 days of
the end of the quarter. A copy of the approved financial report, signed by the Chairman,
the secretary, and the treasurer, shall be filed, with a record of the vote adopting the
report, with the Auditor within 7 days of approval. Each quarterly financial report must
include copies of canceled checks, bank statements, invoices and receipts, grant request
letters, executed contracts, and the minutes indicating the Commission’s approval of
disbursements reported in the quarterly report. A financial report shall be available for
public inspection during the Commission’s normal office hours.".
(c) Paragraph 16j(2) is amended to read as follows:
"(2) No quarterly allotment shall be forwarded to a Commission until all reports
of financial activity for the quarters preceding the immediate previous quarter are
approved by the Auditor. If a Commission fails to file 2 consecutive quarterly reports
that meet the requirements of paragraph ( 1 ) of this subsection, it shall relinquish its
checkbook to the Auditor, whose permission will be needed for any expenditure made by
check until the Commission files the required financial reports. No branch or office of a
bank or financial institution located in the District of Columbia shall honor any check or
bank withdrawal by a Commission after it receives notice from the Auditor that a
Commission has failed to relinquish its checkbook in accordance with this
paragraph"."
(d) Paragraph 16(j)(3) is amended to read as follows:
"(3) On the effective date of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Management
Control and Funding Emergency Amendment Act of 1998, the Chief Financial Officer shall
reallocate any quarterly allotments that are held in reserve for Commissions for any
period through the end of fiscal year 1997. The funds shall be used to provide fiscal year
1999 allotments to each Commission, consistent with section 738(e) of the District of
Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 824; D.C. Code §1-251). On
September 30, 1999, and on the last day of each subsequent fiscal year, any additional
funds held in reserve for Commissions by the Chief Financial Officer, due to the failure
of a Commission to file a quarterly financial report on a timely basis, shall be returned
to the District’s General Fund.".
Sec. 3. The second sentence of subsection 17(b) of the Advisory Neighborhood
Commissions Act of 1975, effective March 6, 1991 (D.C. Law 8-203; D.C. Code §1-264.1(b)),
is subsection 17(b) is amended to read as follows:
"A Commission shall be eligible to participate in the Fund if the treasurer and
the Chairman of the Commission agree, on a form to be provided by the Trustees, to be
personally liable to the Fund for any sum paid out by the Fund as a result of the
treasurer or Chairman’s wrongful misappropriation or loss of Commission monies.".
Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council concludes that this legislation will have a positive fiscal impact.
The legislation includes 3 provisions that will strengthen financial management and
oversight of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions ("ANCs"), thereby preventing
waste, fraud, and abuse while ensuring that funds are spent to benefit District
neighborhoods.
First, section 2(a) requires the ANC Chairman to be bonded, supplementing the present
statutory requirement that the ANC treasurer is bonded. This is a prudent change because
subsection 1 6(f) of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Act of 1975 states that the
signature of the ANC treasurer or the Chairman must appear on any expenditure an ANC makes
by check. Section 3 presents an alternative to the bonding requirement, as provided in
current law, by stating that if an ANC chooses to participate in the ANC Security Fund
instead of maintaining a bond, that both the ANC treasurer and Chairman must agree to be
personally liable to the Fund for any wrongful appropriation or loss of ANC funds.
Second, section 2(b) introduces a new requirement for quarterly financial reports to
include copies of canceled checks, bank statements, invoices and receipts, grant request
letters, and contracts executed, along with the minutes indicating the Commission’s
approval of disbursements reported in the quarterly report. This information will make
Commissions more accountable for documenting their expenditures and will enable the
Auditor quickly to detect any financial errors or improper expenditures.
Third, section 2(c) includes a provision to deter and prevent financial mismanagement
by requiring Commissions that fail to file 2 consecutive quarterly reports on time to
relinquish their checkbooks to the Auditor. Commissions that have failed to file 2 or more
quarterly reports will not be able to make any expenditure by check without the permission
of the Auditor. The legislation also includes language in section 2(d) that provides
fiscal year 1999 funding for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in a fiscally neutral way.
In approving the District’s fiscal year 1999 budget, Congress did not provide funding for
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, but specified in the conference report on the
District’s budget that the District could reprogram funds for Advisory Neighborhood
Commissions "so long as necessary management controls are enacted by the Council of
the District of Columbia to assure that the funds are disbursed for previously reviewed
and agreed upon purposes, consistent with the laws, rules, and regulations of the District
of Columbia." This legislation enacts the necessary management controls and also
allocates $334,790.38 for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in fiscal year 1999 by
transferring that sum from a reserve fund maintained for ANCs by the Chief Financial
Officer.
The Chief Financial Officer presently holds $596,438.38 in reserve for Advisory
Neighborhood Commissions that have failed to file the quarterly financial reports required
by law. Commissions can claim the funds associated with a quarterly report by filing a
report meeting the standards prescribed by the D.C. Auditor. The Office of the Chief
Financial Officer reports that $334,790.38 of the funds held in reserve is for allotments
from fiscal years 1991 through 1997. This legislation reallocates the reserve funding of
$334,790.38 for fiscal years 1991 through 1997 for use as the fiscal year 1999
appropriation for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
Sec. 5. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by
the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), approval by the Financial
Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(a) of the
District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995,
approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code §47-392.3(a)), a 30-day period of
Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)( 1 ) of the District of Columbia
Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat.
813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.