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Finding for Recovery of $1,177 Issued Against Former Kingsville Township Fiscal Officer Over Late Fees, Interest, and Penalties

For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 18, 2023

COLUMBUS – A finding for recovery of $1,177 was issued Thursday against the former fiscal officer of Kingsville Township in Ashtabula County for fees, interest, and penalties that were assessed because of late employee withholdings and debt service payments, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

Sarah Patterson and her bonding company are jointly and severally liable for the total, which was included in an audit of the township’s financial activities from Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2020.

Auditors identified 11 payments totaling $1,177.57 in 2019 and 2020 for late fees, penalties, and interest to the Internal Revenue Service, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, and to Northwest Bank, after Patterson failed to remit tax and retirement withholdings and make debt payments in a timely manner.

Auditors noted, “The late fees, interest, and penalties assessed against the township could have been avoided had the township timely remitted its withholdings and payments due; as such, these expenditures do not serve a proper public purpose.”

A copy of the full report, available online (ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx).

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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 Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government. 

Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov