For Immediate Release:                                                      

December 11, 2020                                                                           

Auditor Faber Declares the Village of McArthur “Unauditable”

Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber this week declared the Village of McArthur (Vinton County) “unauditable” for the period January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020 after auditors determined the condition of the village’s financial records were not adequate to finish the audit.

Auditors identified the following issues:

• The 2018, 2019 and 2020 monthly bank reconciliations were completed; however, when testing, errors were noted in the reconciliations that were not identified by the Fiscal Officer when reconciling. These errors were not supported by underlying documentation, the monthly outstanding checks total did not always agree to the outstanding check listing and an unreconciled difference existed between the bank and book balance that was not supported with underlying documentation. 

• The village was not reconciled as of December 31, 2017 with outstanding checks totaling $2,044, not included on the reconciliation. Many checks were misidentified as outstanding or cleared.

Consequently, Auditor Faber considers these financial records “unauditable.”

Within 90 days of receiving the “unauditable” declaration, the village 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 village mayor, Steve Hammond, 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 village 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 in question 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