Columbus – Auditor of State Dave Yost today placed the Village of Wellsville (Columbiana County) in a state of fiscal emergency for its third time, the most for any local government since the designation was created in 1979.  

During a fiscal analysis requested by Mayor Nancy Murray, the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services Section (LGS) determined that the village is in a state of fiscal emergency due to deficit fund balances totaling $93,021 and $28,710 as of Dec. 31, 2015, and May 31, 2016, respectively. 

The village previously spent more than four years in fiscal emergency from August 2001 to December 2005 and nearly five years from June 1984 to March 1989. 

“Wellsville has a long history of financial struggles,” Auditor Yost said. “There’s obviously an underlying problem at hand, and I encourage village officials to work with my office to root it out for good.”

The village will now come under the oversight of a financial planning and supervision commission. Within 120 days of its first meeting, the commission must develop a plan to eliminate the fiscal emergency conditions. The Auditor of State serves as the “financial supervisor” to the commission.  

A village is placed in fiscal emergency if any one of the six conditions described in Section 118.03 of the Ohio Revised Code exists. The six conditions are: 

1. Default on a debt obligation;
2. Failure to make payment of all payroll; 
3. An increase in the minimum levy of the village which results in the reduction in the minimum levy of another subdivision; 
4. Significant past due accounts payable; 
5. Substantial deficit balances in village funds; and 
6. A sizeable deficiency when the village’s treasury balance is compared to the positive cash balances of the village’s funds.

A full copy of this fiscal emergency declaration is available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Beth Gianforcaro
Press Secretary
614-644-1111