The Florida Senate

320.08062  Audits required; annual use fees of specialty license plates.--

(1)(a)  All organizations that receive annual use fee proceeds from the department are responsible for ensuring that proceeds are used in accordance with ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058.

(b)  All organizational recipients of any specialty license plate annual use fee authorized in this chapter, not otherwise subject to annual audit by the Office of the Auditor General, shall submit an annual audit of the expenditures of annual use fees and interest earned from these fees, to determine if expenditures are being made in accordance with the specifications outlined by law. The audit shall be prepared by a certified public accountant licensed under chapter 473 at that organizational recipient's expense. The notes to the financial statements should state whether expenditures were made in accordance with ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058.

(c)  In lieu of an annual audit, any organization receiving less than $25,000 in annual use fee proceeds directly from the department, or from another state agency, may annually report, under penalties of perjury, that such proceeds were used in compliance with ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058. The attestation shall be made annually in a form and format determined by the department.

(d)  The annual audit or report shall be submitted to the department for review within 180 days after the end of the organization's fiscal year.

(2)  Within 90 days after receiving an organization's audit or report, the department shall determine which recipients of revenues from specialty license plate annual use fees have not complied with subsection (1). If the department determines that an organization has not complied or has failed to use the revenues in accordance with ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058, the department must discontinue the distribution of the revenues to the organization until the department determines that the organization has complied. If an organization fails to comply within 12 months after the annual use fee proceeds are withheld by the department, the proceeds shall be deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund to offset department costs related to the issuance of specialty license plates.

(3)  The Auditor General and the department have the authority to examine all records pertaining to the use of funds from the sale of specialty license plates.

History.--s. 5, ch. 90-194; s. 7, ch. 95-282; s. 3, ch. 98-414; s. 270, ch. 99-248.