Columbus – Auditor of State Dave Yost released Scioto County from fiscal emergency today during the final meeting of their financial planning and supervision commission.

“Today is the culmination of five years of hard work,” Auditor Yost said.  “Not without sacrifice, leadership dug in its heels to bring a brighter financial future to Scioto County.”

Scioto County was placed in fiscal emergency on August 19, 2009 due to significant deficit fund balances in two funds totaling $765,296.

To eliminate the deficits, Scioto County decreased its expenditures by approximately $1.62 million annually through several measures.  The county closed the juvenile detention center in 2009 after the fiscal emergency declaration.  During 2010 and 2011, the county commissioners closely monitored hiring, and only filled essential positions or filled positions with employees paid at a lower rate.  The county also instituted furlough and cost savings days.  Each department was permitted to develop their own cost savings plans, which included both furloughs and reductions in staff.

To boost revenues, the county increased contracts to house prisoners from other jurisdictions, bringing in an additional $290,000 each year on average.  The Southern Ohio Port Authority sold land, which the county had a lien against, to add $414,000 in revenue.

The Auditor of State’s office conducted a performance audit of Scioto County in 2010 and provided the county with more than $1.3 million in potential savings.  The county implemented several recommendations from the performance audit, including changing its health benefits structure and preparing and regularly updating five-year financial forecasts.

To be released from fiscal emergency, Scioto County met the following criteria:

• Adopted and implemented an effective financial accounting and reporting system;
• Corrected or eliminated all of the fiscal emergency conditions and no new conditions have occurred, and it appears that, based on its five-year forecast, Scioto County will remain out of fiscal emergency during the forecast period;
• Met the major objectives of the financial recovery plan; and
• Prepared a five-year forecast in accordance with standards issued by the Auditor of State, and the opinion expressed by the Auditor of State is “nonadverse.”

A full copy of this fiscal emergency termination 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 5,800 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