(LANSING) – A new law would allow local recreational authority boards to spend more of their budgets on improving communities and not on government mandates.

State Representative Aaron Miller of Sturgis says State Law previously required recreational authority boards to pay and conduct an annual audit, regardless of the size of their budget. For some organizations, they were being forced to spend nearly half of their annual budget on an audit, just to be compliant.

Earlier this year, St. Joseph County Clerk Lindsay Oswald, who serves as a volunteer director for the River County Recreational Authority in Three Rivers, testified with Miller to support this legislation. She shared that past budgets for the Recreational Authority had been eaten up by audits, including in one year where the organization had just one transaction.

House Bill 4408, now Public Act 128 of 2019, allows audits to occur once every two years if a recreational authority doesn't levy taxes or spend more than $100,000 a year.

Miller says the new law has safeguards to prevent misuse of funds. The Department of Treasury may require an annual audit if there is any indication of accounting irregularities.