Amends TCA Section 4-3-305; Title 7; Title 9 and Title 68.

This bill revises various provisions regarding public finance, as follows: (1) Authority of the comptroller of the treasury. Under present law, the comptroller of the treasury is authorized to act in specific ways when a general act for county budgeting or a county fiscal control act is enacted. This bill specifies that this authority also applies when a private act for county budgeting is enacted. Also, this bill revises some of those specific actions that the comptroller is authorized to take in such situations. Under present law, the comptroller is authorized to prescribe forms and procedures for the preparation of annual budgets in the several counties and in the other local governments; this bill adds "guidance manuals" to this list. Under present law the comptroller may promulgate regulations with respect to the issuance of county and municipal bonds, the refunding and retirement of county and municipal debts and the handling of county or municipal defaults; this bill revises this provision to instead authorize the comptroller to, with the approval of the state funding board, provide guidance manuals with respect to the issuance of county and municipal notes and bonds, the refunding and retirement of county and municipal debts, and the handling of county or municipal defaults. This bill clarifies in various provisions of law the applicability of the requirement for a local government to submit its budget to the comptroller and to change references from "review" to "approval" of the budget; (2) Utility districts budgets under the Utility District Law of 1937. Under present law, a utility district that has issued debt obligations pursuant to the authority of the Law must, prior to the beginning of its fiscal year, adopt a balanced annual operating budget. Present law lists the requirements of such budget, including that the budget be submitted to the comptroller for review. The comptroller must furnish the utility district a report on such review. This bill revises these provisions to specify that the requirement to adopt a balanced operating budget applies to all utility districts, whether created pursuant to the Utility District Law or any public or private act by the general assembly, and to remove the reference to having issued debt obligations. Also, this bill provides for the budgets being submitted for "approval" instead of review"; and provides that instead of furnishing a report, the comptroller must provide guidance to the form of the budget, including supplemental schedules, as necessary, to demonstrate utility districts have adequate cash to meet its current obligations, including principal and interest, as applicable. This bill adds that if the budget is either not approved by or not submitted to the comptroller within two months of the beginning of the fiscal year, then debt or financing obligations may not be issued until the comptroller has approved the budget. This bill also provides that the comptroller may, in the case of an emergency, waive the requirement of a budget approval in order to allow the district to enter into emergency financial transactions; (3) Local government annual budgets under the Local Government Public Obligations Act of 1986, as follows: (A) Under the Act, present law requires local governments to submit an annual budget to the comptroller. Present law requires that the annual budget be prepared in a form consistent with accepted governmental standards and as approved by the comptroller. This bill adds that the budgets must be on the same basis of accounting as required by generally accepted accounting principles. This bill requires the comptroller to provide guidance to the form of the budget, including supplemental schedules, as necessary, to demonstrate local governments have adequate cash to meet its current obligations, including principal interest, as applicable. Also, present law provides that a local government's tax rate must be sufficient to produce the sum necessary to balance the budget upon a cash basis; this bill removes the reference to the budget being balanced "upon a cash basis." Present law authorizes the comptroller to direct a local government to adjust its estimates or to make additional tax levies, if the comptroller finds that the budget does not comply with the Act. This bill additionally authorizes the comptroller to direct the local government to reduce expenditures; and (B) Under present law, the Act provides that if a proper budget is not submitted to the comptroller when required within five months of the beginning of the fiscal year, the comptroller will cause notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the local government once each week for two consecutive weeks, stating that the budget has not been submitted to the comptroller, and that the local government is operating contrary to the Act. This bill revises this provision to instead provide that if a budget is either not approved by or submitted to the comptroller within two months of the beginning of the fiscal year, then debt or financing obligations may not be issued by the public entity until the comptroller has approved the budget. In the case of an emergency, the comptroller may waive the requirement of budget approval in order to allow the public entity to enter into emergency financial transactions; (4) Bond issuance under the Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority Act. Present law authorizes water and wastewater treatment authorities to issue bonds. This bill adds to the present law provisions governing such bond authority, the following: (A) An authority may not issue bonds or notes until the resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds or notes together with other required information, detailed in the full text of this bill, are submitted to the comptroller for review. This bill sets out in detail the process for such review, which process will not apply when the bond or bonds or other evidence of indebtedness of the authority are to be purchased or the loan is to be made by the farmers home administration or any other direct lending department of the United States government; (B) An authority must, prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, adopt balanced annual operating budgets that identify all anticipated revenues of the authority by source and identify all anticipated expenses by expense. Such budgets must be based upon historical operating results and reasonably anticipated future operations and submitted to the comptroller for approval. The comptroller will provide guidance to form of the budget, including supplemental schedules as necessary, to demonstrate authorities have adequate case to meet current obligations, including principal and interest, as applicable. This bill applies the same deadline and publication requirements under the Act, as described above in item (3)(B); and (C) If an authority proposes to sell bonds in excess of $50 million at a negotiated sale, a written request for proposal must be sent to a minimum of five qualified firms no later than 30 days prior to the first meeting of the board of commissioners to discuss the specific bond transaction. A minimum of three proposals must be received no later than 14 days prior to such first meeting. This requirement will apply to both financial advisory and underwriting services; and (5) Budgets under the Regional Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority Act. Under present law, the Act requires the executive director of the board of a water and wastewater treatment authority created under the Act to annually prepare the operating budget of the authority and submit the budget to the board for approval at least 60 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Such authorities may also issue bonds. This bill rewrites and revises these provisions to provide for budget requirements that mirror those described above in item (4).