Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber today declared Firelands Ambulance Service “unauditable” after state auditors determined the condition of their financial records were not adequate to finish the audit.

“It is the responsibility of any recipient of taxpayer dollars to accurately track and record their finances,” Auditor Faber said. “I recommend that officials work with our Local Government Services team to restore records to an auditable status.”

Factors that contributed to the Auditor’s Office declaring the ambulance service “unauditable” were:

·A lack of support for an adjusting factor of $204,035 for “Payroll Conversion” noted on the December 31, 2018 bank reconciliation;

·No accurate outstanding check list on December 31, 2018, despite several checks issued in December 2018 that did not clear the bank in December;

·Even though the ambulance service has two bank accounts, ambulance service only reported one bank account on the December 2018 reconciliation (in UAN);

·Missing month end bank reconciliations for 2018;

·Reconciliations for 2017 could not be located.

Within 90 days of receiving the “unauditable” declaration, the ambulance service must revise their financial records and provide the data necessary to complete the audit. Failure to bring accounts, records, and reports to an auditable position may result in legal action, including the possibility of the Attorney General issuing a subpoena to ambulance service officials to explain the condition of records. The Attorney General may also file suit to compel officials to prepare and/or produce the required information.

The Auditor of State’s Local Government Services section is available to the ambulance service to assist in bringing records to an auditable condition. Local Government Services provides a wide variety of services to local governments, including reconstructing financial records and aid in the reconciling of books.

The Auditor’s office removes an entity from the “unauditable” list once the audit is complete 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