Columbus - Failure to submit an acceptable revised recovery proposal and incomplete financial records prompted Auditor of State Dave Yost to place the Liberty Local School District into fiscal watch today.
 
“In these difficult economic times, governments at every level must become more efficient with fewer tax dollars,” Auditor Yost said. “My office is ready to work with the Liberty Local Schools to bring them back to fiscal health.”
 
The Ohio Department of Education placed the district in fiscal caution on January 18, 2010, based on potential deficits in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. The district’s five-year forecast, filed with the Department of Education on October 28, 2010, projected deficits of $293,000 for fiscal year 2011 and $2,565,000 for fiscal year 2012. The Auditor of State’s office determined that the district’s financial records were unauditable on February 7, 2011.
 
On May 17, 2011, the Auditor of State’s office received a letter from the Ohio Department of Education asking that the Auditor of State place the Liberty Local School District in fiscal watch. Based on the district’s projected deficits and unauditable records, the Auditor of State’s office determined the request to be reasonable.
 
Within 60 days of this declaration, the Liberty Local School District must submit a financial plan designed to correct their financial problems. If the district is unable to do so, fiscal emergency will be declared. Technical assistance will be available to district leaders from both the Auditor of State’s office as well as the Ohio Department of Education, free of cost to the district.
 
A full copy of this fiscal watch declaration is available online.