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Taylor Releases Village of Donnelsville Audit

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Clark County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor released the audits of the village of Donnelsville for fiscal years 2004, 2005 and 2006 today. The audits indicate that village officials did not maintain accurate financial records and failed to balance their accounts for all of 2004, 2005 and 2006.

In 2007, the village contracted with the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services (LGS) section to reconcile financial documents with bank statements for all three audit years. While balancing the accounts, auditors identified a difference of $550,728 that the village received and deposited in the bank but did not properly record in the village books.

“When financial records are missing or incomplete, there is the potential for mistakes and misspending,” Taylor said. “Donnelsville officials should improve fiscal accountability to ensure that public money is managed legally and appropriately.”

The audits outline several additional findings and recommendations that village officials should consider in an effort to prevent potential financial distress. Those findings include:

  • Concerns raised about the village’s ability to pay back a $2.7 million loan for the construction of a sewer system
  • The failure to file annual financial reports, as required by Ohio law, which could result in additional fines and penalties
  • Missing documentation detailing how some money was spent
  • Fees and other penalties incurred for late payments on credit cards

The Auditor of State’s Local Government Services section serves as a consulting and fiscal advisory group to all governmental agencies and subdivisions when needed. The section issues publications, accounting manuals and advisory bulletins to assist local governments in performing their duties.

The Ohio Auditor of State’s office is one of the largest accounting offices in the nation.  The office strives to ensure that all public funds are spent legally and appropriately and works aggressively to root out fraud, waste and abuse in public spending. Taylor encourages anyone suspecting fraud or misspending of public dollars to contact her office toll free at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).

A full copy of the audit is available online at www.auditor.state.oh.us.