Columbus – Signing her own paychecks and paying herself too much money led to $7,570 in findings against the former fiscal officer of the Village of Glenford (Perry County) in an audit released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost.

“It’s just bad practice to have any one person be solely responsible for their own pay,” Yost said. “Taxpayers deserve governments that have good control over their accounts, and that means you don’t get to sign your own checks.”

Authorized salary for the part-time position was $3,000 annually, but former fiscal officer Pat Ayers overpaid herself $500 in 2009, $1,500 in 2010, $4,445 in 2011 and $1,125 in 2012. She has since repaid $3,000 of the balance owed.

Other citations in the audit included failure to document bank reconciliations, disagreement between the approved budget and appropriations, and failure to have a village official in addition to the fiscal officer sign checks.

The audit has been referred to the county prosecutor.

A full copy of the audit may be found 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 5,700 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