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‘‘(b) WAIVER BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—A unit of
general local government may waive application of sub-
section (a)(1) if—
‘‘(1) the financial statements of the government
are audited by independent auditors under State or
local law at least as often as would be required by
subsection (a)(2);
‘‘(2) the government certifies that the audit is
carried out under generally accepted auditing stand-
ards issued by the Comptroller General of the
United States;
‘‘(3) the auditing provisions of the State or
local law are applicable to the payment period to
which the waiver applies; and
‘‘(4) the government submits to the Secretary a
brief description of the auditing standards used
under the relevant State or local law and specifica-
tion of the payment period to which the waiver
applies.
‘‘(c) WAIVER BY SECRETARY.—Under regulations of
the Secretary, the Secretary may waive any requirement
under subsection (a)(1) or (b) for a unit of general local
government for a fiscal year if the Secretary decides that
the financial statements of the government for the year—
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‘‘(1) cannot be audited, and the government
shows substantial progress in making the statements
auditable; or
‘‘(2) have been audited by a State agency that
does not follow generally accepted auditing stand-
ards issued by the Comptroller General of the Unit-
ed States or that is not independent, and the State
agency shows progress in meeting those auditing
standards or in becoming independent.
‘‘(d) SERIES OF AUDITS.—A series of audits carried
out over a period of not more than 3 years covering the
total amount in the financial accounts of a unit of general
local government is deemed to be a single audit under sub-
sections (a)(1) and (b) of this section.
‘‘(e) AUDIT OPINION.—An opinion of an audit car-
ried out under this section shall be provided to the Sec-
retary in the form and at times required by the Secretary.
No later than 30 days following the completion of the
audit, the unit of general local government shall make the
audit report available for public inspection.
‘‘(f) INVESTIGATIONS BY SECRETARY.—(1) The Sec-
retary shall maintain regulations providing reasonable and
specific time limits for the Secretary to—
‘‘(A) carry out an investigation and make a
finding after receiving a complaint referred to in sec-
106
tion 6716(b), a determination by a State or local ad-
ministrative agency, or other information about a
possible violation of this chapter;
‘‘(B) carry out audits and reviews (including in-
vestigations of allegations) about possible violations
of this chapter; and
‘‘(C) advise a complainant of the status of an
audit, investigation, or review of an allegation by the
complainant of a violation of section 6711 (a) or (b)
or other provision of this chapter.
‘‘(2) The maximum time limit under paragraph
(1)(A) is 90 days.
‘‘(g) REVIEWS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The
Comptroller General of the United States shall carry out
reviews of the activities of the Secretary, State govern-
ments, and units of general local government necessary
for the Congress to evaluate compliance and operations
under this chapter.
‘‘§ 6719. Reports
‘‘(a) REPORTS
BY SECRETARY
OF TREASURY
TO
CONGRESS.—Before June 2 of each year, the Secretary
personally shall report to the Congress on—
‘‘(1) the status and operation of the Local Gov-
ernment Fiscal Assistance Fund during the prior fis-
cal year; and
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‘‘(2) the administration of this chapter, includ-
ing a complete and detailed analysis of—
‘‘(A) actions taken to comply with sections
6711 through 6715, including a description of
the kind and extent of noncompliance and the
status of pending complaints;
‘‘(B) the extent to which units of general
local government receiving payments under this
chapter have complied with sections 6702 and
6718(a), (b), and (d), including a description of
the kind and extent of noncompliance and ac-
tions taken to ensure the independence of au-
dits conducted under section 6718(a), (b), and
(d);
‘‘(C) the way in which payments under this
chapter have been distributed in the jurisdic-
tions receiving payments; and
‘‘(D) significant problems in carrying out
this chapter and recommendations for legisla-
tion to remedy the problems.
‘‘(b) REPORTS BY UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL GOV-
ERNMENT TO SECRETARY OF TREASURY.—(1) At the end
of each fiscal year, each unit of general local government
which received a payment under this chapter for the fiscal
year shall submit a report to the Secretary. The report
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shall be submitted in the form and at a time prescribed
by the Secretary and shall be available to the public for
inspection. The report shall state—
‘‘(A) the amounts and purposes for which the
payment has been appropriated, expended, or obli-
gated in the fiscal year;
‘‘(B) the relationship of the payment to the rel-
evant functional items in the budget of the govern-
ment; and
‘‘(C) the differences between the actual and
proposed use of the payment.
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall provide a copy of a report
submitted under paragraph (1) by a unit of general local
government to the chief executive officer of the State in
which the government is located. The Secretary shall pro-
vide the report in the manner and form prescribed by the
Secretary.
‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe
regulations for applying this section to units of general
local government that do not adopt budgets.
‘‘§ 6720. Definitions and application
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter—
‘‘(1) ‘unit of general local government’ means—
‘‘(A) a county, township, city, or political
subdivision of a county, township, or city, that
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is a unit of general local government as deter-
mined by the Secretary of Commerce for gen-
eral statistical purposes; and
‘‘(B) the District of Columbia and the rec-
ognized governing body of an Indian tribe or
Alaskan Native village that carries out substan-
tial governmental duties and powers;
‘‘(2) ‘payment period’ means each 1-year period
beginning on October 1 of 1994 and 1995;
‘‘(3) ‘State and local taxes’ means taxes im-
posed by a State government or unit of general local
government or other political subdivision of a State
government for public purposes (except employee
and employer assessments and contributions to fi-
nance retirement and social insurance systems and
other special assessments for capital outlay) as de-
termined by the Secretary of Commerce for general
statistical purposes;
‘‘(4) ‘State’ means any of the several States
and the District of Columbia;
‘‘(5) ‘income’ means the total money income re-
ceived from all sources as determined by the Sec-
retary of Commerce for general statistical purposes;
‘‘(6) ‘per capita income’ means—