Columbus – As part of the audit of the Village of Donnelsville for Jan. 1, 2017 through Dec. 31, 2018, Auditor of State Keith Faber declared the village “unauditable” after its fiscal officer for the village failed to provide financial statements required for an audit.

“Without a complete financial audit, citizens are uninformed of how their government is spending their money,” Auditor Faber remarked. “I recommend that village leadership contact our Local Government Services staff immediately so that taxpayers are not left in the dark for long.”

On May 28, 2019, the Auditor’s office sent village officials a letter detailing their “unauditable” status. The village has not turned in their 2017 and 2018 financial statements, due on March 1, 2019 and the village has not closed their financial records in a timely manner. Village payroll data is incomplete and the last bank reconciliation performed was for Sep. 2017.

Within 90 days of the letter, the village must revise its financial records and provide the necessary data. Failure to bring accounts, records and reports to an auditable condition may result in legal action, including the possibility of the attorney general issuing village officials a subpoena to explain the condition of records. The attorney general may also file suit to compel the officials to prepare and/or produce the required information.

The Auditor’s Local Government Services Section (LGS) is available to assist village officials in brining records to an auditable condition. LGS provides a wide variety of services to local governments, including reconstructing financial records and aid in the reconciliation of books.

The Auditor’s office removes an entity from the “unauditable” list once the audit in question is completed and released to the public.

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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 6,000 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. 

Contact:

Allie Dumski

Press Secretary

(614) -644-1111