The City of Fayette has been fined more than $150,000 for its failure to file its annual financial report for 2018. The violation occurred when city administrator Robin Triplett failed to file a copy of the city’s financial report with the state auditor for fiscal year 2018.

The report was due December 31, 2018, but wasn’t filed until December 18, 2019, nearly a year later. Under revised statute 105.145, which went into effect A

The report for fiscal year 2019 was also filed late, but it is not yet known if fines have been assessed for that year.

Mayor Greg Stidham made the announcement Friday. He told this newspaper that he had not found out about the error or the fine until Tuesday. He broke the news to city aldermen during closed session of the city council meeting that evening.

The fines had been assessed monthly via the withholding of sales tax payments due to the city. Stidham said on several occasions that he noticed lower-than-expected payments from the state and asked for the reason. He thought the state was just behind on payments, he explained Friday.

Mayor Stidham said the failure to file the report on time is a clerical error, and that the city is investigating the cause and what, if any, corrective action could be taken. Stidham called the amount of the fine “unreasonable,” and questions how the state could allow the fine to accumulate for such a long time without giving any additional notice to the city.

But there was notice to the city. Triplett said she received notification from the state auditor in May or June of 2019, but still didn’t file the report. “I forgot,” she said Monday. “We were short staffed and it just didn’t get done.

“I did not file it. It’s my fault,” Triplett said.

Howard County Treasurer Susan Keyton said she was notified in November of last year that her office would receive money fined from the city, but not how much. She did not find out the extreme amount until February 10.

When fines such as this are collected by the state, the Department of Revenue sends the money to the county treasurer for distribution to local school districts. There are six school districts either fully or partially in Howard County. Funds are distributed based on district population. It is expected that between 40 and 50 percent of the money would go to the Fayette district. New Franklin and Glasgow would be the next two in line for large shares of the distribution. Salisbury, Higbee, and Harrisburg districts would each receive small portions, as only tiny areas of those districts dip into Howard County.

The city is exploring options to recoup the money. One is to simply ask the school districts to give back the money. It is not known whether schools would even be legally allowed to do so. Fayette schools superintendent Jill Wiseman said Monday that she didn’t know what the law would allow. She called the situation unprecedented. Ultimately, Wiseman can not make the decision alone. The Board of Education would have to decide what to do with the money. Fayette’s portion of the disbursement will likely total around $65,000, according to Keyton. It will be placed in the district’s general revenue fund.

Nathan Nickolaus, the city’s attorney, said it is possible for the school districts to return the money to the city.

Stidham said he turned over the fine to the city’s insurance company, One Beacon, with which the city holds an errors and omissions policy.

The city is also hoping that a bill currently in the state legislature will help the city recoup at least a portion of the fine. House Bill 1854 was given do pass by the Missouri House Legislative Oversight Committee just this month. It seeks to make changes to the policy so that cities which file reports late, but that have not yet been fined, may reduce the penalty up to 90 percent. The City of Fayette is hoping to include an addendum that would include cities that have already paid the penalty. Mayor Stidham asked Rep. Dave Muntzel to sponsor the bill. Whether the addendum would include cities retroactively is unknown. It would first have to be passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Mike Parson.

The city will also try to negotiate with the Department of Revenue in hopes the fine may be reduced. But the fine has already been deducted from the city’s annual sales tax payments and now is being held by the county treasurer. “DOR at present has no ability to settle or compromise the amount of the fine,” Nicholaus explained. Unless something drastic takes place in the next four months, that money will be distributed out to school districts. “I assume it will be disbursed out,” Stidham said, unless there is found a way to legally freeze the funds. “We’ll be checking that out as well.”

In the meantime city personnel and the city council will make revisions to the budget to cover the lost revenue. Triplett said that as of right now, no city employees will lose their jobs. Stidham entertained the idea that the city may take out a short-term loan. He is also reaching out to members of the state government for help, including the Municipal League, a lobbying group that represents 640 Missouri cities.