Columbus – The Crooksville Exempted Village School District (Perry County) treasurer overpaid himself by $23,000 according to the district’s 2011 audit released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost.

“Internal controls prevent an entity from falling victim to mistakes or – in the worst case scenario- intentional theft,” Auditor Yost said.  “While I am pleased that the money was paid back, the controls should have been in place to keep this from happening at all.”

The Ohio Revised Code mandates that the salary of a school district treasurer be paid from the district’s general fund.  From July 1, 2004 through November 23, 2011, the district paid Treasurer Michael Hankinson a total of $10,029 from Title I Fund 572 and $8,000 from the IDEA B Fund 516.  Additionally, from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2006, Hankinson was paid $5,000 from the Miscellaneous Federal Grants Fund 599. 

These payments from outside the general fund were above and beyond his salary set by the school board, and there were no supplemental contracts or other indications of board approval to justify the payments.  A finding for recovery in the amount of $23,029 was issued against Hankinson.  The full amount was repaid to the district by Hankinson on March 20, 2012.

This finding for recovery was forwarded on to the Perry County Prosecutor. 

A full copy of this audit report may be accessed online.

###

The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,600 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:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
614-644-1111